A Toast to the Kings
by happyinsomniac
Summary: A K-Project Fan Fiction. This four part story follows the whereabouts of the 6th King, who has chosen to avoid associating with the other Clans as of means of protecting their own; however, it isn't until they are mysteriously involved in a strange new love and a psychic war.
1. First Dance

Welcome to [K] A Toast to the Kings. A made-up story that follows the whereabouts of the 6th King based off of the [K] anime series by GoHand x Gora. The first part of the story begins on the day of the Ashinaka High School incident. There will be time skips in order to catch up to what is currently happening, but that won't be for a while. For now, you can enjoy delving into the daily lives of the Clan so it will be a slow start for this story. Enjoy~

* * *

 _ **K: Dance of Kolors**  
_

 _(Part 1 of A Toast to the Kings)_

 _December 19th_

* * *

"The typical medieval sword. You have the pommel, handle, quillion, ecusson, annelet, fuller, forte and foliable."

Fujisaki Subaru was explaining the anatomy of a sword to Wakaba Yuu and Iida Raeno, as they continue pasting on phototypesetting, carefully cutting out text and gluing them in speech bubbles. _Eh? Is this guy serious?_ Raeno thought.

Iida Raeno was a tall young man with jagged light brown hair and hazel eyes who has been an Iridescent Clan member for a year now. Wakaba Yuu was a short but slender woman who had light ash blonde hair and dark amber eyes. She was also a Clan member of almost a year, making Raeno her senior and the two got along quite well.

Today was the deadline for Subaru to turn in the last twelve pages for his manga's weekly release, but he was a little behind and had five more pages to go. He was finishing up his featured page, which was an incredible drawing of his protagonist wielding an elaborate greatsword, while his assistants were cleaning and inking his other pages.

"The pommel is a counter weight and secures the hilt to the blade. The handle is the lower portion of the weapon, next, you have the quillion, which is used for parrying and binding up the opponents blade, ah, it is also known as the cross-guard!" He continues and Yuu looks up at him, frowning, and Raeno sighs, annoyed but continues pasting, letting the mangaka babble on.

The two editors were irritated that their artist had fallen behind schedule, since the printing company demanded his finished manuscript that day.

"The ecusson is the metal center, or bracket of the handle guard, and the annelet are small loops intended to protect a finger wrapped over the guard. Then, you have the fuller that gives the sword both strength and flexibility, following that is the forte which is the lower portion of the blade which has more control and strength and does most of the parrying. Last, the foible, which the the tip of the sword and is the weakest part of the blade, however, it has the most agility and speed-"

"SHUT UP AND FINISH YOUR WORK!" The entire room shouts at Subaru and he begins crying, quickly drawing and apologizing.

"Seriously, you need to focus, sensei." One of his assistant grumbles and Subaru fixates his glasses, quiet tears falling down his cheeks.

"It's too quiet. I had to." He answers, sobbing.

It was almost the holiday break for Spire Publishing, but with the printing and intermediate companies are closed and deadlines have been moved up...save for a few particular authors who were able to get their deadlines extended.

 _I'm ready to head home._ Yuu thought, rubbing her eyes. Raeno can tell she was exhausted, everyone in the room was and he was surprised he hadn't cut himself with his x-acto knife yet.

A few hours had slowly passed and it was a quarter till six, the sky had turned a dark gray-blue color with a strip of yellow at the horizon.

"I'M FINISHED!"

Subaru lefts up his featured page in excitement, revealing to his editors of his final piece and they examine it.

"Yeah, it's great! Let's get this back to Spire." Raeno nods in approval.

"Good work everyone. Please stay safe over the holiday." Yuu adds as she cleans up shredded papers and snaps on plastic caps over the x-acto blades.

"Ahaha, I finished." Subaru sighs with relief, slumping in his seat, fatigued and his assistants cheer happily.

The editors rush out from Subaru's home after bidding farewell and checking over the manuscripts. They call for a taxi, heading back to Spire Publishing to meet with the printing company, preparing themselves for chaos.

"You can rest if you want, I'll wake you up when we get there." Raeno says to Yuu and she shakes her head, rubbing her hands together for warmth.

"No it's okay, I'm fine." She huffs and he shrugs his shoulder, thinking how stubborn she was.

The sky was cloudy and it looked like Tokyo Metropolis was going to expect snow. The two editors rushed the taxi driver to take the quickest route to Spire, who was already doing his best to steer clear of traffic, until they reach a red light and were stuck for a while.

Raeno was staring out the window, feeling sleepy from the heater in the taxi, until he hears a loud tap on the glass, startling him. He focuses in on the person, wiping down the glass even more and his eyes widen.

"Takahiro-san?!" He says loudly, rolling the window down quickly to greet the person.

"What?! Shizuka-san?!" Yuu shouts and shoves him aside to see Takahiro Shizuka, chairman of Iris Corporation, and a woman of high respect...after all, she was their King.

 _The Iridescent King._

Her light, shimmering periwinkle hair was loosely curled, well, the half that was long anyways. The left side of her hair was cut in short choppy layers, some strands hugging her cheek and neck, while the right part of her hair remained long, cut in a diagonal way, starting with shoulder blade length from the left and gradually becoming longer to the right, reaching her hip. Her jagged bangs were swooped to the right, partially hiding her rainy colored eyes.

She was wearing black leather gloves. A fashionable gray hooded coat made entirely of polar fleece. It had a lapel neck design for further warmth and around her waist was a small black and gold belt. She was also wearing white skinny jeans and brown high heel boots that reach under her knees. Latched onto the back of her heels were her trademark silver revolvers with a small golden charm at the grip. The two editors assumed she was hiding her other pair under her jacket, since she always had four with her. Speaking of which. Overall, the set of guns were named 'Anonymous', but individually, they were crowned the names Artist, Story, Editor and Author, befitting to a King who rules over the art and media culture.

"What are you up to at this time? It's really cold out." Yuu asks and Shizuka smiles, waving at the two.

"Just having dinner tonight." She answers as the taxi begins moving when the traffic lights turns green. "Happy holidays." She smiles, bidding farewell as they take off.

"Ah, you too, Shizuka-san! Hope to see you sometime!" Yuu shouts waving her arms and hanging halfway out the window. She sees Reno pulling her back into the taxi and gives a small chuckle before a large truck pulls up behind them and she couldn't see them anymore.

She turns away and continues to her destination down the crowded sidewalk. Christmas was in the air, wreaths hung on lamp posts, lights wrapped on trees and bushes and it seemed like the city had started to put out displays of over-sized ornaments and other decorations to fit the holiday feel.

Shizuka shouldn't keep her friend waiting, but she couldn't help looking around a bit, feeling nostalgic, before quickening her pace, heading towards _Maison Blanche,_ a French and Japanese restaurant and bar located near the shores of Tokyo Metropolis, allowing customers to have a beautiful view of the ocean and beyond.

After a while, she finally made it, slipping through the dark entrance to be greeted by a hostess who recognized her without a question. The restaurant was bustling and very warm as they head over to an elevator. In a few minutes, they had reached the top floor, which was quieter, save for the soft sound of music playing in the background. There were tall glass windows in the room, to the left you can see the ocean and there was a large balcony where people could also eat at, but it was closed since it was winter; however, there was a table placed nearby the glass doors to the outside area and sitting there was Asahina Yayoi, who was waiting for Shizuka, looking through the menu trying to decide what to order.

She was a tall, twenty-seven year old woman with shoulder length, slightly curly brown hair that is swept to the side by a brown scrunchie, in a loose ponytail. Her eyes are brown with a slight reddish tint. She was wearing a black shirt under a navy blue blazer, matching dress pants and black heels.

She hears the sound of metal clicking on the floor and she recognizes that her friend had arrived.

"You're a bit late, you know? Luckily, I haven't ordered anything yet." She speaks, hearing Shizuka laugh.

"Ooh don't be like that, Yayoi-san!~" She says cheerfully as she sits down in front of her, taking off her coat and gloves and handing them to the hostess. Strapped around her lower waist were two handguns, which she unstrapped and placed in the chair next to her.

Yayoi was like an older sister to Shizuka and have been friends since they were in high school, meeting when Yayoi was a senior and Shizuka a freshman. After a few years, Yayoi was working with her aunt at the Tres Spades Hotel and Casino, and Shizuka had been chosen as the 6th King. She followed her into the world of art and media, becoming Shizuka's first Iridescent clansmen as well as the managing director of Iris Corporation, headquarters to the Iridescent Clan.

"You're lucky I'm a nice friend, so what took you so long?" Yayoi asks, watching Shizuka place a glass prism on the table, a habit of hers.

"Hmm...I saw Yuu-chan and Raeno-kun heading back to Spire and decided to say hello." She answers with a soft smile, rotating the prism, but grimaces when a rainbow spectrum didn't appear with the lighting being off and the sky cloudy. She gives up and then opens her menu to browse the dishes. "They looked exhausted."

"Well, we're hounding down authors who have deadlines this week after all and tomorrow is the last day until we close down everything too." Yayoi answers as the hostess returns with Shizuka's drink.

"Are you dropping authors who can't make it?" She asks.

"You know that answer already," Yayoi grumbles, but explains anyways, "As always it depends, so I have some people on standby just in case." Yayoi answers and Shizuka takes a slow sip of her water. "Other than that...things are going smooth for the company, so you don't have anything to worry about during the break, just don't forget about the party Ito Yukina invited us to. "

"Ah, that's right, what would I do without you?" Shizuka teases and Yayoi sighs, but gives a chuckle, realizing that her friend hasn't really changed. "Also, has everyone turned in their wish lists for Santa?"

Yayoi laughs, "It sounds very childish when you put it like that, but no, not everyone has turned in their name for your Secret Santa game. I left a list on your desk of people who are hesitant, but, knowing you, you may not remember some of them. So, to make it easier for you, I categorized the names in the company and departments they're assigned to, that way you don't go running around everywhere. I also put their cellphone number down as a reference."

"Haha, it'll be fine. I can always ask around, but good, good." Shizuka begins feeling excited. "But you should know, I like to meet up with people in person."

"Yes, I know. You like to see people's faces, I get it, but the number is there just in case." Yayoi says.

The hostess returns to ask if they had decided on anything to eat and they order. After she leaves with their menus in hand, Shizuka leans back in her chair, turning her head to look out the windows, eyeing the calm sea.

"So, I'm glad I haven't gotten any hospital calls from you...I'm guessing things have been going well when you're out of the office." Yayoi speaks, stirring the ice in her drink around with her straw. "Some of your clansmen think you're doing shady stuff, you know?"

"Well, they're not entirely wrong." Shizuka has a soft grin on her face again while Yayoi furrows her brows at her, feeling uncomfortable. "I'm just kidding." She finally says, nearly giving Yayoi a stroke, but was relieved to hear that.

"I hope you don't betray my trust in you, but...just don't do anything _too_ dangerous. You'll put the company at risk." She says and Shizuka snorts.

"With you holding the base down, there isn't anything to worry about." She sneers with confidence and Yayoi sighs but she couldn't keep a straight face at the King and smirks.

The hostess returns, followed by a few other people carrying their food and other goods. One of them is the owner of the restaurant and was more than pleased to have Shizuka eat at his restaurant and the two exchange small talk while their dishes were served, along with other wares, like wine, that were on the house.

After they leave, Shizuka had just finished pouring red wine into Yayoi's glass, humming Fly Me to the Moon. _It's shame she won't remember them if we come back here again. Just like the last time._ She thought, raising hers to Shizuka after she finished pouring herself a drink. "A toast." She says.

"A toast," Shizuka repeats, raising hers and their glasses clink, "to the Kings _._ "


	2. Second Dance

_December 19th_

* * *

The two spend the next two hours discussing stupid things, as if they were teenagers again, but sometimes talked about work and of the Iridescent Clan.

Shizuka was often jumping around from company to company for monitoring or finishing paperwork due, and was occasionally trapped in meetings. If she was lucky, she would return to Iris in a week after being away, but normally it would take a whole month, sometimes two, depending on the situation. That is when Yayoi is put in charge of Iris Corporation and tends to the needs of the clansmen.

"Shoot. I hope the toy store isn't closed yet. Could you head back to Iris without me?" Shizuka speaks as the two friends slip on their coats after finishing their dinner, heading to the ground floor.

"Eh? Shopping at this time?" Yayoi asks, checking the time on her watch, noticing that it was nearly eight. They walk outside into the cold city. It was already snowing, and the air felt slightly off to Shizuka. The two stood outside of _Maison Blanche_ for a moment to pull their hoods over their heads and further discuss where Shizuka needed to be, stepping aside to the curb so people could have access into the restaurant.

"I came straight here after I was free, so you should feel special. I left my car at Rush Studios so I'll pick it up when I go back there." Shizuka points and Yayoi was drawn aback. "I forgot that I had a mission for Shin, and I really should do it because I might forget later on."

"Ah, your little brother, now that makes sense. Isn't he going to be graduating from Hanagesaki high school in the spring?" Yayoi asks, eyeing a taxi and waving an arm to catch it.

"Yeah, May 16th. He's growing up pretty fast." Shizuka chuckles.

The taxi slowly pulls up to the curb and Yayoi steps inside.

"Time sure flies by." She says. "Please stay safe on the streets. I'll see you back at headquarters."

"See ya!~" Shizuka grins happily and Yayoi shuts the door. The cab merges into the traffic and Shizuka turns away, heading towards her destination. She went through a list of possible gifts for her younger brother in her head, recalling what she had bought him last Christmas. _Let's see, I think last time...I bought Shin an RC Helicopter and I'm definitely not getting something like that again._ She thought, remembering how her little brother accidentally flew the chopper into her hair and it got tangled. _Maybe I should get him some jeans...ah, but he also like jigsaw puzzles, so maybe both._

She stops at a crosswalk, waiting for it to turn green so she can continue on her mission, confirming what she was going to purchase for Shin.

A moment later, the light at the crosswalk turned green and Shizuka follows the crowd accordingly. Instead of heading to the more popular toy stores, she was aware of another shop that wasn't as well known, run by an elderly couple and she enters it, finding it a bit more crowded than normal.

Coincidentally, Iridescent clansmen, Himuro Daisuke, was there, browsing the aisles, searching for a specific figurine for his girlfriend.

He is a young 20 year old man with shaggy, short black hair and green eyes, standing at 178 cm (5 ' 11"). He was frustrated that he was unable to find the figurine as this was the fifth store he had checked and was about to leave the shop, until he sensed that someone else with the same aura as his was nearby.

He felt the Aura a few aisles behind him from what he can tell and he turns around to see the Shizuka, who was unaware of Daisuke's presence. She was browsing through the jigsaw puzzles, holding a box with a kitten on the cover and he was drawn aback, after all, it's been two weeks since he last met her when he was accepted into the Clan.

He was hesitant in approaching her, but he was curious as to why she was looking at jigsaw puzzles. He didn't think she was the type to be interested in them.

"Oh, if it isn't Takahiro-san." He greets Shizuka, "It's been a while, how are you doing?" She turns around with a soft smile, cocking her head a little.

"Oh, I've been good, thank you for asking." She says and he felt calmer, stepping a bit closer to her so people could get through. "But...if I may ask..." His grin fades and he looks at her as she laughs nervously, "who are you?"

It felt like someone had punched him in the gut when she asked and he felt like an idiot on the spot, but he knew that this person was Takahiro Shizuka, the Iridescent King. _Calm down, Daisuke! It might be because she has a lot of people to remember, especially at a big company like Iris!_ He cries in his head and collects himself, hoping no one saw his dramatic stunt.

"Sorry, don't feel bad! It's just how I am...uh...er..." Shizuka smooths back her hair, thinking of a way to lighten up the mood and Daisuke straightens up, still feeling a little upset.

"No, no, I understand since you have a large company with a lot of people my age working, so you probably don't remember me." Daisuke says, "My name is Himuro Daisuke. I became one of your Clansmen two weeks ago and I work at All 4 One Media as an intern."

"Ah that's right." Shizuka nods her head, recalling that exact moment, "It was December 2nd at 6:25 P.M. You were formally a member of the Green Clan, right? Whatever their Clan's name is..." She asks and he felt a little better, but he was also shocked how she remembered such tiny details but not his name. "You'll have to forgive me, Himuro-kun. When I meet someone for the first time and I don't see them again after that, I forget who they are." She laughs like it was a joke, waving a hand, but Daisuke felt a little concerned and wondered how she's still able to run such a huge corporation.

"Are you Christmas shopping as well?" She asks, returning to the puzzle aisle, aiming for the larger sets.

"Yeah, for my girlfriend. I was about to leave since I couldn't find what I needed here, but then I caught you here, unexpectedly." He says.

Shizuka's interest was piqued and she chuckles, finally deciding on a 3D puzzle of a European cathedral. "Is she interested in stuffed animals?"

"F-Figurines actually." He answers, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Anime figures?"

"Er, no, _animal_ figurines. Unfortunately she's not into Anime and is more westernized. I thought I would find one here, but, no luck. She's kind of a kid at heart." He blushes and laughs and Shizuka felt happy for him.

"Does she like glass figurines? Because I can help with that." She smirks, heading to the checkout and encouraging Daisuke to come along.

"H-Huh? Really? A-Ah, no! You don't have to, I'm sure you're busy." He stammers but Shizuka reassures him.

"Don't worry about it. It's the holidays~" She cheers and he sighs.

"Thank you, Takahiro-san."

When he first met the Iridescent King, he wasn't expecting to shake hands with a woman, even more so, she allowed him into her clan even though he betrayed his own, but he was given a second chance and his needs were looked after at Iris, which gave him hundreds of opportunities of work and he chose to produce music; however, he never met with Shizuka again after that. He heard that Iris owns several subsidiary companies and goes around checking up on them. It sounded tiresome to him.

"Do you like jigsaw puzzles?" Daisuke asks as the two depart from the store, heading to their next destination, wherever that may be.

"Nope, but my little brother does." She answers with cheer. "What about you?"

"I'm on the same boat as you right there." He answers with a chuckle. "Anyway, where are you taking me?"

"You'll see." She grins and Daisuke felt a bit anxious, unsure of what she was thinking and she whistles for a taxi, soon pulling up to the curb and they climb inside, Daisuke heading in first. Shizuka gives the driver directions to downtown Tokyo and Daisuke fidgets, twiddling his thumbs and looking out the window. He then checks his PDA for any messages, finding a few, and he opens them, one from his colleague asking if he was going to attend the party some girl name Ito Yukina invited them to. He ignores the message to answer back his girlfriend, who was asking what he was doing at the moment. He explains to her that he was running an errand with his boss. She was fine with it and he moves onto the next text from another colleague asking the same party question.

"What's up with this party over the break?" Daisuke asks, putting his PDA asleep.

"Uninterested?" Shizuka asks, lifting an eyebrow at him and sneering.

"I guess you can say that." He answers.

"It'll be an opportunity to meet other members of the Clan...but I won't influence your decision." She waves a hand as if to swat away her words and Daisuke ponders about the party. W _ell, I'll have to remember to remember to take him off the list_. She thought, taking out one of her cellphones to jot it down in a notepad. It had a pearl white case that shimmered different colors in the light with a silver rotating sphere plugin charm.

Shizuka had three different cellphones, each with it's own unique design so she can identify which phone was meant for what. One phone was strictly for her family and close friends, the second was for her Clansmen, which she was now using, and the last was for business relating to Iris Corporation. Although it seems troublesome, it was for security purposes, and Shizuka didn't mind juggling three cellphones around and it kept her busy.

When she looks up she can see that they've reached their destination. "And here we are." She turns

The taxi slows down and Shizuka pays the fare, thanking the driver as the two step out of the cab.

Downtown Tokyo was just as crowded. It was nearly the holiday break after all, and this was night club territory as well.

Daisuke follows Shizuka through a back alley, coming upon a small shop with a Victorian-like exterior. They enter and are immediately surrounded by a calm mossy scent, as if they had entered into a forest of pine woods. The oak wood flooring and dim lit exterior gave him more of that nature feel, especially with a subtle sound of a stream playing in the background, until they enter further into the shop to be encircled by hundreds of glass merchandise seemingly to sparkle in the dim lighting.

They were the only customers from what Daisuke can tell, actually, it seemed like they a _re_ the only people there in general, since no one was at the register. _Isn't that hazardous?_ He thought.

"Oh? If it isn't the Iridescent King" A voice in another room spoke, giving Daisuke a little scare, and walking out from the shadows was a man wearing a fancy revolutionary styled military suit and hat with leather gloves. He had long strawberry blonde hair tied in a ponytail, some of his bangs framed his sharp oval face and swooped to the left. He had magenta eyes and was also a bit taller than Daisuke.

"Good evening to you too, Orlando-san." Shizuka greets, her back was turned to him, however, and she was browsing a shelf with a row of glass ballerinas on it, but soon, she whips around to turn her attention to the shopkeeper, Orlando.

"I haven't finished the prism table you wanted yet. It's a complicated design you requested, but it isn't anything I can't do for my lovely customer~" Orlando makes a pose as if he was dancing as he approaches Daisuke and Shizuka. "Oh? Who might this be?"

"This is Himuro Daisuke, one of my newest clansmen, I suppose I'll say that." She says. "Himuro-kun, this is Orlando, owner of Looking Glass Shoppe and your senior clansmen." Shizuka introduces the men and Orlando eyes Daisuke with interest, a hand on his hip and his fingers under his chin.

"It's nice to meet you." They both say and bow at the same time, which makes all three of them laugh a bit.

"I've brought him here to look for a gift for his girlfriend." Shizuka says.

"Is that so?!" Orlando asks with wide eyes, flashing another pose and Daisuke was beginning to think this man was strange. "To profess one's love with a glass ornament is truly wonderful! One cannot resist the beauty and brilliance of one!~" He continues his speech as Daisuke stares at him while Shizuka maintains a grinning face, amused of his flamboyance.

"He's really passionate about glass-work." Daisuke mutters to himself, laughing nervously. "Is it okay if I look around?" He asks Orlando who finally straightens himself out.

"Of course, please do! And if there's anything you need just ask~" He bows and Daisuke didn't hesitate to leave. Shizuka picks up a glass shaped crown, turning it until a small rainbow spectrum could be seen inside and Orlando turns to her, a hand on his hip. "I haven't seen you in a while, Shizuka-san, what's been going on?" He asks as she places the crown down with a chuckle.

"The usual as always." She answers, "Monitoring my companies and doing paperwork and such."

"Don't you get bored though?" He sighs, feeling sorry for her but she shakes her head, examining a chess set with one side made of frosted glass and the other left clear.

"Not in the least," She says and picks up the clear glass king. "Because everyday is different with every company so it feels like the month that passes by is actually a week. I'm a busy person without knowing it." She laughs and tosses the king into the air and catching it in her palm, nearly giving Orlando a heart attack when she did that.

"Th-That's not good, you know? You should go out and have fun while you're still young." He shrugs as he explains and Shizuka laughs, turning to him and slapping him on the arm.

"I think you should too, Orlando-san! You're always cooped up in this place~" She says and he was offended.

"Excuuuuuse moi, mademoiselle! This shop is a haven for my works. It is my nirvana, much like your Iris Corporation." He remarks while Shizuka continues to tease him.

While the two were chatting, Daisuke was careful when browsing the glassware. He was amazed of the details in each piece, wondering how difficult it was to work with glass given the amount of time the artist put into them.

"In any case," Shizuka clears her throat, and lowers her voice while Daisuke continued deeper into the shop. "It's the holiday season, Orlando. I'm hoping you have it in your heart to give that guy a bit of a discount."

"You're always looking after your clansmen aren't you?" Orlando asks and she grins.

"I'm making a selfish request." She remarks.

"You know I cannot oppose you. After all, you love this shop as much as I do, being the Iridescent King." He sneers but Shizuka was silent for a bit; however her smile remains on her lips and Orlando sighs, knowing that he couldn't read her mind after all. He then leaves her side to tend to Daisuke's needs. The shopkeeper finds the young man passing by a few glass ornaments, only giving them a glance as if they didn't interest him greatly.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" Orlando asks and Daisuke scratches his head.

"Oh...Y-Yeah..." He replies, feeling a little embarrassed to specify what he had in mind. "It's a...uh...for my girlfriend...she likes figurines so I thought maybe-er...she'd like if I got her a... _p-pegasus_...figurine. She likes animals, you see." He stammers and is face flushes, which made Orlando gitty and mushy inside.

"Kyah~ That's adorable." He cheers, grabbing Daisuke and dragging him to the other side of the store. "I have something perfect for you then! You're on the wrong side of my store, you fool. Come come! You also get a seasonal discount too so things are cheaper at this time~"

"O-Okay. It's not like I can follow you since you're literally dragging me." Daisuke chokes and Shizuka follows along silently but happily.

"Tadaa~ my Pegasus collection~" Orlando sings, emphasizing the last part of 'collection' with a French twist, and holds Daisuke out and faced him towards a white shelf with many different sizes and shapes of the winged horse. There were so many that Daisuke felt his head spinning.

"This one is my newest creation, take a look~" Orlando gently holds a glass pegasus on his gloves hands and Daisuke examines it, noticing that it had a pink hue to the glass.

"Cool, but, maybe something more...flashy?" He suggests, but he was completely unsure of himself.

He glances back at the shelf, his eyes scanning over shelf to shelf until he comes upon one particular pegasus. It had a glittering frosted coating on its body and wings and was about 3 inches tall and extremely detailed in every little aspect.

"That one." He points out and Orlando takes it off the shelf.

"Ah, the Celestial Goddess. I was inspired when I read a book called Unicorns of Balinor when I was on a trip to America. It's a children's book, but it was wonderful." He says and Daisuke fawns over the glass work. The glitter was a blue color dabbed onto the frosty coating. The horse was in rearing position, the wings outstretched, seeming more majestic and alive. It also had a horn which as carefully twisted and detailed, glitter added onto it as well.

"Mami is going to love this!" Daisuke says, but before he could look at the price, Orlando was twirling away from him. "H-Hey! What are you-"

"Ah~ love grows so strong in young people, especially on holidays. Come now, we must make haste!" He dances over to the register and it took Daisuke a while to comprehend what happened; however, he accepted the fact that he had saved some time, at least, and finally settling on something before changing his mind since this sort of thing wasn't something he normally did. Soon, he heads over to the register to pay for the statue.

Shizuka was occupied with a shimmering glass flower, attracted to its brilliance and wondered if she should purchase it. Meanwhile, Daisuke had already purchased the statue and Orlando was wrapping it neatly with decorative tissue paper and a bag with a pink ribbon.

"Thank you for your purchase. I hope you come again someday~" Orlando sings joyfully as he hands Daisuke the gift bag.

"Thank you. I appreciate it." Daisuke says, examining the gift bag as Shizuka approaches. "Ah, I should get going then. Thank you as well Takahiro-san." Daisuke says with delight and she was pleased.

"Anything for my clansmen, but we're heading the same way for a bit." She remarks and turns to Orlando. "I'll see you at the party, right?"

"Won't miss it, after all, I'll get to see Yayoi-chan again." He points at her and she does the same while Daisuke heads to the door, leaving it open until Shizuka passes through. They bid farewell to the shopkeeper and depart, heading down the alley.

"I'm pretty excited to give this to Mami now. Thank you for showing me this place, Takahiro-san." Daisuke says as they turn a corner.

"You're welcome, I'm glad you found what you were looking for." Shizuka grins and shortly afterwards she checks the time on one of her phones, which was the Clansmen phone, noticing a few text messages as well, but ignores them. It was almost nine and she hadn't bought her little brother any jeans yet. "However, I still have my own shopping to do."

"Ah, then I'll catch us a cab" He offers and she nods.

Soon, they return back to the busy sidewalk and they were lucky to catch a taxi right when someone was leaving. They enter and Shizuka tells the driver to head to the shopping district.

"Alright, but just to warn you, the door on your side, ma'am, is jammed and might not open so you might have to exit on the other side. Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll get that fixed soon." The driver explains, but the two weren't bother by it.

During the ride, Shizuka takes out her personal phone, which had a peacock feather designed case as well as white peacock plugin charm with multicolored gemstones on its feathers. She sees a message from Yayoi who was telling her that she almost fell down the staircases because of a spider hanging down from the ceiling, which gave Shizuka little laugh. Afterwards, she pulls out her Clansmen phone to read the texts, which typically consisted of them asking for advice, questioning something, or replying back to previous messages, mainly about the party or upcoming events planned.

Meanwhile, Daisuke was feeling bashful and imaging the moment he would give the gift to his girlfriend as well as her expression, carefully holding the gift bag in his lap and grinning like a fool.

The cab pulls to an empty curb in the shopping district and Daisuke had to get out in order for Shizuka to exit.

"Sorry, excuse me." She says as he steps out of the taxi.

"It's fine." He says, shifting aside as she exits.

"Well, you have a good night, Himuro-kun. Happy holidays...oh...and again, I'm really sorry about forgetting who you are." She gives him a wide grin and he laughs nervously, unsure how to respond to that.

"It's alright, don't worry about it. At least I'll know what to expect from now on." He finally responds. "Have a good night." He waves a hand as Shizuka walks away, returning the gesture as the two depart.

Before Shizuka steps into the clothing store, she hears one of her phones ringing and she reaches into her pocket to retrieve it, stepping to the side. She pulls out her personal phone and it was ringing with the default tone, meaning she was getting an unknown caller. She felt suspicious, knowing the only people who had this number was her family and Yayoi, but she decides to answer it to confront the person.

"Hello?" She speaks.

"Yoo~ it's been a while." The person on the other end had a cheerful but deep voice; however, she didn't recognize it.

"Who is this?" She asks, grinning, and they laugh.

"Now that's mean, how could you forget a good 'ol friend like me?" They ask, but she was still unsure, glancing around for anything suspicious, slightly turning her body as well. "Well, not that it matters. I wanted to know how you've been for the past six years, so let's go out on a date, huh? Shall we meet at Goro's Cafe around 1 pm tomorrow?" He asks, sounding a bit calmer, and Shizuka was silent. "Oh, and it's me... _Shizu-chan_."

The moment the person spoke that nickname, she immediately knew who it was. She lifts an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth curls as she drops her arm and slowly hangs up without saying a word to the person. _Interesting._ She thought, chuckling and entering the clothing shop. Her phone buzzed a short moment later and her text tone went off, but she ignores it, focusing on purchasing jeans for her little brother. _I'll deal with that later._ She thought.

Thirty minutes pass and she heads out of the store with a few pairs of jeans. She calls for a cab and tells the driver to head to Iris Corporation when he arrives. It was nearly ten when she returns to the large and towering bat-wing shape building. During the day, it was a white building with a blue-gray hue to it with reflective glass windows, by night, baby blue and pale purple lights were aimed up onto the building, giving it a periwinkle glow.

However, since Christmas is in a few days, the color schemed was changed as well as the amounts of lights and of course, decorations. Everything was a blur of red, white, gold, silver, blue and purple colors. Reindeers prance around gingerbread houses around the lawns and a large Santa clause decoration was on the roof taking off into the night, leaving a snowy trail behind him.

Shizuka exits the cab after paying the fee and walks over to the front gate of the corporation, looking up at the security cameras with her signature grin and presses a button on one of the pillars, waiting for someone to answer on the screen. It flashes on soon and she is greeted by Murasaki Renka, one of Iris's security guards, who was wearing the Iridescent Clan's guard uniform, which was a white military suit with ice blue designs, buttons, snap cuffs and decorations, which often shimmered different colors in various lighting.

Murasaki Renka was a positive, middle-age man who took his work seriously. He had shaggy rust colored hair and pale green eyes. "Oh, Takahiro-san!" He waves cheerfully. "Asahina-san said you would be out for a bit so it's good to see you back safely. I'll open the gates for you, do you need me to give you a ride here? It's a bit cold out."

"Thank you but I'll be alright since it's not a long walk. Have a good night." Shizuka nods her head to him and he returns the gesture.

"You have a good night too, Ma'am." He says and she walks towards the building.

The driveway had rows of trees decorated in lights which pulsed different colors. There were also beacons of white lights and over-sized candy canes staked to the ground. It felt like yesterday when everyone pitched in to help put up the decorations, and Shizuka felt warm recalling the memory.

The building doors had wreaths hung on them and jingled when she opened the door after sliding her card. The building smelled of sugar cookies. The feeling of the holidays was definitely in the air.

There was a semi-circular desk at the front and one of her clansmen, Ozaki Mamoru, was sitting at one of the computers, glancing up when he sees her.

"I'm home~" Shizuka sings.

"Welcome back." He says with a straight face, his voice monotone.

Ozaki Mamoru was also a security guard and wore his uniform respectively. He had creamy blonde hair that swooped over to the right above his violet eyes. He was a cool and collected man and always kept a straight face, even when telling jokes, so people have a hard time understanding him.

"Ah! Shizuka-san is back!~"

Shizuka hears a voice and turns, seeing another of her clansmen, Kurihara Saeko, waving and walking towards her. She was another security guard wearing the male's uniform, which didn't bother Shizuka, but she wondered how Yayoi would react.

Kurihara Saeko was a short girl with very short dark purple, nearly black, hair that was parted to the right, one side being longer than the other, and dark golden eyes. She had a fierce and stubborn personality but was loyal to her King and friends.

"Hello, Kurihara-chan." Shizuka greets as Saeko steps behind the desk, sitting next to Mamoru.

"Ooooh~ You went shopping. What did you buy?" She asks.

"Just some gifts for my little brother. Nothing more, nothing less." Shizuka answers as Saeko rests her elbows on the counter, leaning over.

"Aww, that's really cute. He's really lucky to have a sister like you." Her grin was wide and Shizuka gives a chuckle.

"We shouldn't keep you here any longer, Takahiro-san. You're probably tired." Mamoru speaks, grabbing Saeko's back collar and sitting her down on the chair.

"Heey, I wanted to talk to Shizuka-san more." She pouts, crossing her arms.

"We can chat another time." Shizuka says, walking away. "I'll be in my apartment if anyone's looking for me. You two have a good night."

"Yes ma'am. Good night." Both of the clansmen say at the same time as she leaves.

Shizuka makes her way down a corridor, heading to the elevators and calling for one. After a moment, the doors open and she walks inside, pressing the button to the top floor. She lets out a sigh and steps back, leaning against the back of elevator while pulling out her cellphone to check for messages. There was only one message and it was from that number...that person who called her earlier. She opens and reads it:

 _I bet you're wondering who gave me your number, Shizu-chan. Well...I'd tell you, but in return I'd like to meet with you. Come on it's been a while and you suddenly disappeared. How about it eh? Just give me a heads up when you decide. I'll be waiting._

Shizuka wasn't so sure how to feel about this. She didn't feel anything at all really and she puts her phone asleep.

The elevator rings and the doors open. Shizuka steps out and walks down the dark gray carpeted hall with glass lamps hung on the walls, occasionally there would be framed paintings or pictures, as well as some sculptures now and then.

She finally makes it to her living quarter, which resided on the very top floor of Iris. The entrance was a thick, frost coated glass set of heavy doors with a large Iridescent Clan insignia, which was an elaborate design of an Iris flower.

She unlocks the door and claps her hands, her living room illuminates a warm orange and pink glow from various glass lamps in the room. The floor was a cream marble color, giving the impression of clouds in the lighting. Combined to the living room was her kitchen and bar, and in the far corner near the glass windows was her office desk.

She then walks towards another door and opens it, the light automatically flickering on a white blue color and she tosses the shopping bags in a love seat immediately entering her room. She takes off her coat and hangs it over the arm of the love seat, next she unbuckles the guns around her waist carefully and placing them over her coat. Next she slips off her boots, unclasping the guns on the heels. While she was doing so, she hears someone entering her office.

"Shizuka?" It was Yayoi who had come to visit.

"Over here." She answers, examining the guns she had taken off of her boots and flicking the charm that dangled from the handle. She turns around when she hears Yayoi walking into her room. She was wearing a regular gray shirt, black sweatpants and zebra stripped slippers, which always amused Shizuka.

"How did the shopping go?" She asks, leaning against the door.

"Good. I ran into a clansmen name Himuro Daisuke. By the way, he isn't going to the party so he will not be participating in the secret Santa game." Shizuka explains as she walks into her office, Yayoi following.

"Ah. Himuro-kun. The guy who used to be from Jungle." Yayoi says, watching Shizuka sitting down behind her glass desk and scribbling out Daisuke's name on the Secret Santa list.

"You know...when he came up to me in the toy shop, I didn't remember who he was." Shizuka says.

"I'm not surprise to hear that. You never remember anyone when you meet them for the first time." Yayoi chuckles and Shizuka looks up at her with a grin.

"You don't have to remind me." She says and soon falls silent. Yayoi walks over to a shelf filled with Shizuka's collection of glass objects, all from Orlando's Looking Glass shop and she felt warm inside her chest thinking about him. Shaking her head of the thought she didn't dare touch any of the figurines.

"Ne, Yayoi?" Shizuka speaks and she looks over at her with a raised eyebrow, finding her turned away in her chair, facing the large window in her office into the sleepless city. "Do you remember the guy I dated when we were in high school?"

Yayoi was extremely shocked of her question.

It was rare for Shizuka to bring up something like that since she wasn't the type to openly discuss that topic. Normally it was someone else who questioned about her relationship status and Yayoi felt a little concerned. If she can recall...it was several years ago when Shizuka last had a boyfriend. That was when they were still students at Ashinaka High School.

"Yes. Did...something happen?" Yayoi asks slowly and there was short pause between them, but Shizuka didn't turn around.

"Naoki..." She finally speaks. "Ijuin Naoki...called me."

The name struck Yayoi as memories flood into her mind of Ijuin Naoki. Shizuka's first and last high school lover. "Wh-What? Are you serious?" Yayoi furrowed her brows at her friend, dumbfounded of this moment, but Shizuka didn't move or answer her and she felt impatient. "This is unfortunate...but if you think about it. This was bound to happen eventually since you do own several companies and you have a growing Clan. Someone would give him your number if he was still in the region."

"Ah, but this is why I have three cellphones." Shizuka chuckles, standing up, holding her hands behind her back as she walks closer to the window. "He called my personal number, so it couldn't have been someone else in the Clan, or a business partner."

The information stuns Yayoi again and she clenches her fists, thinking that Shizuka was possibly accusing her. "I would never betray you, Shizuka" Yayoi's tone was serious as she spoke through gritted teeth, but Shizuka laughs.

"Oh stop it~ I would never hold it against you if you told anyone my actual number. It makes life more interesting for me anyway." She turns around to Yayoi with a sneer. "But I have a few theories that I'm going to go with, so let's not worry about this small issue as much."

"Are you sure?" Yayoi asked, once again concerned but Shizuka seemed confident.

"Of course! I am a King, with bigger problems to deal with. It wasn't the end of the world and we were just kids anyways." She places a finger to her lips as she ponders, a sly grin curling at the corners of her mouth. "But...now that we're adults...how will things be like now...I wonder."

"Er...if I may ask...what did you two talk about?" Yayoi asks, still feeling worried.

"I didn't say anything to him." Shizuka answer and Yayoi makes a sound as if she was punched by her words. _Was she being passive-aggressive all this time?!_ She thought. "Mainly because I needed to buy jeans for Shin and that was priority...but...he did ask me on a date."

"Oh?!" Yayoi gasps, joining her friend by the window. "Are you going then?"

"No." Shizuka immediately says and Yayoi was confused. "I can tell he hasn't changed with his bad timing. We have far too much to prepare for the holidays and I haven't even packed to go to my parents yet."

Yayoi thinks about Shizuka's explanation for a bit and finally decides that she could handle things on her own. "Ah, I see, but you'll have tell him that it's off so he doesn't keep bothering you." Yayoi points out and Shizuka gives her a reassuring pat.

"I think he'll still bother me even if I ignored him. That guy is thick headed...so things will definitely be amusing." She purrs and Yayoi sighs, rubbing her eyes and feeling uneasy of what's to come.


	3. Third Dance

_December 20th_

* * *

Shizuka was at Rush Studios asking any clansmen if they were participating in the Secret Santa game for Ito Yukina's holiday party, but she was also there because she left her car at the company. Instead of taking the bullet train, Yayoi had dropped her off since she didn't want the King walking around in the cold and getting sick before Christmas.

She was wearing a light champagne blouse top with thick dark brown belts strapped over her shoulders and under her armpits, black leather gloves, a dark gray color on the underside, a medium gray business skirt with a black belt that held her guns on her lower back, black opaque tights and cream colored, ankle strapped high heels. Of course, she had her other pair of guns latched on the heels.

"Oh, I heard about this." Clansmen Kamiya Tsukina says to Shizuka. She was a short and cute girl with light pink hair that was always in high pigtails and hazel eyes. They were joined by a few other clansmen, interested in what the Iridescent King was up to. "Sure I'll join in, since it sounds fun."

"Ooh, is this for Yukina'chan's party? Count me in~" Another clansmen, Suzuki Nanako, asks, feeling excited. She was also a short but athletic girl with a dark brown bob hairstyle and hime-cut bangs, olive green eyes and rimless glasses.

"I'll have to pass this year. I'm heading out to my parents in Osaka tonight." Shinogi Ayana comments, a tall woman with flowy burgundy hair and eyes.

Shizuka was familiar with the girls as they usually work at the front desk at Rush Studios, so she often sees them when she comes in.

"Ah, is that so. I hope you have a safe trip then." Shizuka crosses off Ayana's name on the list. The next name was Kondo Yuriko, but she wasn't familiar with it, pausing for a moment to search for a face, but she couldn't, soon asking for help. "Do you know where I can find Kondo Yuriko?"

"Kondo-chan?" Tsukina contemplates for a short moment, figuring out what department she was in.

"Ah, she should be in the Opal Department like always. She's cooped up in there 24/7. I highly doubt she'll go to the party." Nanako waves a hand, gesturing to dismiss Yuriko's attendance to the party but Shizuka brushes it off.

"You don't know unless you ask. I'd love it if everyone could come after all." Shizuka beams, rendering the girls silent. Nanako felt regretful of what she said about Yuriko but kept her guilt to herself. "I'll be off then. Have a good day~"

"You too, Takahiro-san." The girls say in unison as she leaves.

She hums her favorite song, Fly Me to the Moon, as she heads over to the elevator and luckily, she catches the doors open and someone was inside, but they were beginning to close and she lets out a cry. The person inside hears her and quickly holds the door open for her at the right moment as she rushes in, surprised to see that it was Himuro Daisuke, the guy she took to the Looking Glass Shoppe.

"Oh! It's you." They both say at the same time and they laugh immediately afterwards.

"Himuro Daisuke" Shizuka speaks, "I thought you were assigned to All 4 One?" She presses a button to the next three floors above, noticing that Daisuke was heading to the floor above hers.

"It's nice to know you remember my name" He chuckles. "And I do, but I'm running an errand for a colleague and I'm delivering something for someone here." He says, showing her a portfolio that was holding manuscripts.

"Ah, I see now." She says, seeing the doors opening on her floor. "Well, you have a good day then. Happy holidays."

"You too, ma'am." He says as she steps out, turning right and a few people head into the elevator at the same time.

She was greeted by a few people, some were clansmen and others were ordinary employees, but she was still familiar of some faces. One employee asked if she needed anything and she explains she was looking for Kondo Yuriko. They take her to an office and she can feel a gloom in the air. When they walk in, the room felt stuffy and there were a few people hunched over a long table scribbling on paper. There was a woman in the corner, her back to us, paying no mind to her visitors.

"Ho? Interesting." Shizuka purrs a the sight, later thanking the employee for taking her to the office. "Now, which one of you is Kondo Yuriko?" she steps into the office and the woman in the corner slowly turns around.

She was a thin young woman around Shizuka's age with messy chocolate brown hair tied in a bun and tired brown eyes. She was wearing a doctors mask and she looked feverish and exhausted. Shizuka was drawn aback and she recalls a little bit of meeting the girl, but the memory was still blurry.

"Me...I'm Kondo Yuriko.*cough* *cough*" She speaks softly and Shizuka approaches her.

"Whoa you're not looking so bright." Shizuka approaches Yuriko who holds a hand up to stop her from getting closer.

"Oh no, please, Takahiro-san. I don't want you getting sick as well." She says, too sick to realize that the Iridescent King had forgotten who she was.

"If you wish." Shizuka says, "I'm assuming you won't be going to Ito Yukina-san's party then?"

"Not in this state. No." She answer, coughing a little and turns to her desk. She was coloring a picture, which looked nearly finished, and Shizuka remembers that Yuriko is one of Rush Studio's artists. _She's probably running late on her work. Poor thing._ Shizuka thought, sighing silently.

"I'd love to join but I have until early morning to turn in my project to Marketing, luckily this is the last page I need to color. After that, I plan on getting some rest." Yuriko explains as Shizuka crosses out her name on the list, putting 'sick' as a note.

"I understand, but I'm glad you're nearly finished with your work. You're doing great so far by the looks of it." Shizuka points out and Yuriko chuckles, coughing a little.

"Hearing that from you is really nice. Thank you. I won't let down the company." Shizuka could tell she was smiling even with her mask hiding it. She wishes her a good day and dismisses herself, checking the next list on the list and so forth.

It was nearly a quarter till 1 and Shizuka was more than halfway getting through the list meeting with her Clansmen, but many of them were not participating, which was understandable if they were heading out of the city to see family in another city or town but Shizuka felt a little sad. She planned on going out for lunch, deciding to send texts while she was at it.

"Hmmm, Sumika-kun hasn't returned from Glassvale Entertainment yet." Shizuka runs into three of her Clansmen, gossiping in one of the lounges, but none of them looked too happy about something.

Takeuchi Soma, a tall young man with spiky blonde hair and brown eyes. He was formerly a Red Clan member and has both the Red and Iridescent Aura. An animator at Rush Studios, a serious type of guy who was prideful in himself.

Fujita Toshiro, a short man with shaggy olive brown hair and green eyes who was also an animator. A nice and caring guy with a bit of humor.

Lastly, Shirakura Kanae, a small and cute girl with silky platinum blonde hair and magenta eyes who was interning at the company. She was a 1st year university student and was a bit clumsy but reliable. The three were already attending Yukina's party so she didn't need to interrogate them again.

"Is something wrong?" Shizuka asks the trio and they was surprised to see her.

"T-Takahiro-san." Kanae speaks, her eyes glowing as Shizuka smiles at the three.

"Er...N-Not really. We're just a bit worried about Sumika Shuhei." Toshiro laughs nervously.

"Eh~ Is that so?" Shizuka asks, still smiling, but placing a finger on her chin and looking up at the ceiling, "Sumika Shuhei, huh?" She wasn't familiar with the name nor was she able to put a face to it.

"Here. I have a picture of him." Kanae pulls up an image of Shuhei and she looks at it, finding a slim young man with neatly cut, straight, dark blue hair and sky blue eyes. He seemed bored or tired in the picture.

"Ah, I remember now." Shizuka straightens up, recalling that Shuhei was a recent clansmen who joined about two months ago, but she never saw him after his initiation which is why she couldn't put a face to his name.

"Shuhei-kun hasn't return from Glassvale Entertainment and it's been over two hours. It shouldn't take that long to deliver a flash-drive to them and he doesn't have lunch until 3." Soma speaks.

"And the company is about twenty minutes away. We know he didn't get into an accident because every one would have gotten a call or something since he borrowed one of the company's cars...right?" Toshiro asks and Shizuka was silent but agrees with him, an ominous feeling growing inside of her.

"When did he leave?" She asks.

"Er...probably around 10:20? He normally comes into work at 10 and I was the one who told him to take the drive to Glassvale" Soma explains.

"Has he answered his phone or PDA from any of you?" She continues questioning and the three shake their heads. "Perhaps he's still on the road?"

"He's driving really slow then." Soma continues, crossing his arms. "He should have been here forty minutes ago, to be honest, and hunched over his next to mine like normal, but, no one has seen him."

"I see. I was heading out for lunch anyways so I'll look out for him. Will you send me that picture, Shirakura-chan? I know I'll forget if I don't have a reference." Shizuka looks at Kanae.

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Kanae felt obliged, her face flushing and taps on her phone and sends the image to Shizuka's clansmen phone. She then felt excited to go on an adventure and grins happily as she leaves.

Company cars had GPS tracking and the front desk was able to pull up that sort of information to give to her when she needed it, but, just because she could locate the car, it didn't mean the person would be in it; however, it' a good place to start.

Shizuka pulled out her personal phone and messages Yayoi:

 _I'm heading out for lunch, but a clansmen name Sumika Shuhei hasn't returned to work from an errand to Glassvale so I'm going to check out what happened. I may not be back for a few hours._

She sends the message as she heads up to her office on the top floor, grabbing her jacket and purse, and taking the stairs, jumping down while her Aura protects her landing, soon leaving the area. She confronts the front desk, meeting with Tsukina, who greets her cheerfully.

"I need to see the sign sheet." Shizuka says and Tsukina looks at her with wide eyes, but quickly handing her the clipboard and she searches for Shuhei's name, seeing that he hasn't signed back in yet, but he left the building at 10:16 a.m. "Sumika Shuhei borrowed a company car and I would like for you to give me its GPS number, please?"

"Yes ma'am." Tsukina says, quickly typing on the computer and switching to the mouse every now and then. She was quiet for a moment, but Shizuka waits patiently as she writes down the numbers, handing the sticky note to her.

"Strange how the car is heading into Shizume city...is something going on since it's HOMRA territory." She speaks and Shizuka lifts an eyebrow at her.

"HOMRA?" Shizuka questions, unfamiliar with the name and cocking her head slightly to the side, attempting to figure out what it was.

"E-Eh, you really don't know? They're the Red Clan, ma'am." Tsukina spoke slowly and was stunned that her King was unfamiliar with the name, drawn aback by her cluelessness.

"Eh~ really? Is that what people are calling them now? I can never remember the names, just their color." Shizuka laughs as if it was a joke and Tsukina was very concerned at the moment, thinking that HOMRA has been around for quite a while, but she didn't want to question her King and thought she was just joking around.

"Anyways. I'm heading out for a bit." She says, signing on the sheet and handing it back to Tsukina.

"Yes! Please drive safely!" She calls as Shizuka takes off, waving a hand.

She opens a door to the parking lot outside and finds her pearl white car, pulling out her keys and the lights flicker on as she unlocks it. She steps inside the car after throwing her purse in the passenger seat, quickly turning the engine on and adjusting the heater. She snaps on her seat belt and turns on her stereo, the LCD touchscreen blinking awake. She then waits while the car warms up, checking all of her cellphones, her personal one first, finding a message from Yayoi:

 _Understood. I'll hold the fort down as usual, but if anything happens please call me ASAP._

Shizuka then checks her clansmen phone, finding the image from Kanae of Shuhei and memorizing his features carefully. _Headed to Glassvale to deliver a flash drive, huh?_ She thought. _I don't have the time to head over there myself so I need to call and check out the time sheet for him._

She pauses and thought it was fun playing detective and then returns to reading texts, moving onto the next messages, finding a few replies to the Secret Santa game, some accepting the invite and other declining. She reaches over to her purse to pull out the notebook with the list, crossing off names, and then searches for Shuhei, finding him as 'unsure' of going to the party on the paper. His number was also there and she checks her phone to make sure she had in saved, which she did, and throws the notebook back in her purse while she opens up a specific app, typing in the company car's GPS number.

Soon, a blue bubble pops up on a multi colored map and she eyes the dot slowly moving through Shizume city, just like Tsukina said. Soon, she dials the front desk to Glassvale and after the first ring someone picks up.

"Glassvale Entertainment this is Midorikawa Kotaro speaking, how may I help you?"

"This is Takahiro Shizuka. It's good to hear from you, Midorikawa-san." Shizuka speaks and she hears a chuckle on the other line.

"Oh, hello, Takahiro-san, as always it's a pleasure." He says.

Midorikawa Kotaro was the front desk attendant at Glassvale Entertainment as well as a Clansmen of nearly thirteen years.

"There's a man name Sumika Shuhei who recently visited and I need to know his time in and out from there." She explains, hearing him shuffling around for the time sheet.

"Yes, I remember seeing him come in to deliver something. We also talked about Wakaba Takeo for a bit because he missed his coffee this morning." Kotaro chuckles and Shizuka does as well.

"Ah, that man is headstrong even without his coffee. I'm sure he's fine." She says.

"As always. Anyways, back to Sumika-kun, it says here that he checked into the building at 10:32 a.m. and was out at 11:45 a.m. He was probably reviewing with the staff for a little over an hour on whatever he had to deliver and that's a long time if I must say." He says.

"I see..." Shizuka mutters, tapping her fingers on her steering wheel. He should definitely be back at the studio, but if those three from the same

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Kotaro asks but she shakes her head.

"That's it for now. Thank you very much."

"Yes, anytime ma'am. You have a good day." He says before hanging up.

 _The times don't match._ Shizuka thought, texting Yayoi if she could pull up Shuhei's file and afterwards switching to the GPS app on her phone and finding that the bubble was still in Shizume city, turning towards the coasts. She receives a text from Yayoi:

 _I'll just call you when I find it so I don't have to type so much._

That made Shizuka chuckle.

She then adjusts the volume on her phone and returns to the app, pressing the tracking button and pulling out from the lot as her phone directs her where to go.

Shizume City was thirty minutes from Rush Studios with traffic, but Shizuka planned on making it there in a third of the time.

"Let's get this started~" She laughs to herself as she merges onto the highway in a swift fashion, speeding down the road, dodging slower traffic and passing through red lights. She had exceeding every speed limit and maneuvered throughout the city, dodging other vehicles and making sharp turns, following the orders her phone gave her as she continues to pursue the company car, which had now parked at an unfamiliar area near the ocean and Shizuka was unable to recognize it.

Soon, her personal phone began ringing, the ringtone belonging to Yayoi.

Shizuka reaches over to answer it, connecting the call to her car's Bluetooth, but quickly swipes to the side so she could still see the map.

"Yes?"

"I found Sumika Shuhei's file for you." Yayoi speaks, her voice comes through the car's speakers.

"Good, but skip his physical traits and get on with whatever else, please." Shizuka demands, glancing over at her phone and seeing that the highlighted road on the map was turning and she follows.

"At least let me make an introduction of him." Yayoi sighs. "He is 25 years old and born on April 22. He is an animation assistant in the Obsidian animation department at Rush Studio, which I might add that they are currently working on an anime with Glassvale Entertainment." She explains and Shizuka nods her head, seeing that she was nearing Shizume City on her GPS, stepping on the gas. "He is also a freelance photographer and his household consists of four members, his parents and his younger sister, Sumika Inaba, who attends Ashinaka High School, which, I should mention, has faced casualties the other day and is currently shut down."

Shizuka lifts her eyebrow and smirks, fascinated with the school island information, but it wasn't anything relevant to the current situation.

"Just letting you in on some daily news, since you're stubborn about the outside world." Yayoi adds in as if she was able to read Shizuka's mind.

"Now, that's not true. Today I learned that the Red Clan is called HOMRA." Shizuka argues and hears Yayoi laugh on the other end, thinking that Shizuka was being a kid again.

"You never change. I wonder how many times people will tell you that until you remember, but I guess we'll continue calling them the Red Clan until you actually go and meet them...whenever that will be" She clears her throat and Shizuka brushes it off, not too worried about it.

"I'll only believe it when I see it...literally...and maybe multiple times more, but you know how my brain is." She remarks, glancing at her phone to find that she was nearing her destination and slows down, an overwhelming feeling of excitement rises inside of her.

"Is there any medical conditions listed for him?" Shizuka asks.

"Other than his shot records, no." Yayoi answers. "He's never convicted any felonies either, and he graduated from Tokyo University with a degree in economics...and that concludes his file for now."

"Interesting." Shizuka purrs and notices that her surrounding had dramatically changed. The road had also become a bit narrower but there were still buildings of different shapes and sizes around in good condition, with large empty lots spaced between them and the ocean visible as she passes by. Her phone notified her that her destination was only accessible by walking and to park in a few meters.

"Shizuka...where are you at exactly right now?" Yayoi speaks after a pause as Shizuka narrows down on the location of the studio car, finding herself in an area that looked like a dock for small shipments. There were three warehouses with rusted roofs, large trucks were parked around and some metal container ships, but there weren't any people walking about and cars also did not seem to cross by but you can hear the interstate and highways in the distance. It looked as if this could have been fishing market or something similar.

"I'm in Shizume City right now." She finally answers, parking her car a little off the road, which stopped at a dead end since there was a metal gate blocking her path.

"What? Why are you in Red territory? Wait...if you left at...no...you didn't just speed there did you?" Yayoi questions, her voice full of irritation and worry, but Shizuka laughs out loud.

"Of course I did! This city is where the studio's car is at right now and I told you that I was heading out to find Shuhei." Shizuka shuts the engine off, grabbing her phone and stepping out, keeping Yayoi on speaker as she steps in front of her car.

"Shizuka, you are reckless as always. Don't you understand that the Blue Clan will be on your trail with the havoc you probably caused on the road?" Yayoi questions angrily but she only laughs again, soon taking a deep breath.

"Nothing else matters other than the safety of my Clan." Shizuka maintains a smug look, "Doon't worry~ and things will be much more interesting if the Blues show up and I'll just improvise if something happens."

Yayoi wasn't too convinced about her carefree words. Even though Shizuka is a King, she was not invincible, but she was also not a coward and had a big heart for her Clansmen, which she should be grateful of.

"You're in command as always. Please be careful." Yayoi remarks, accepting her King's decision and Shizuka softly giggles as she hangs up.

She looks at the blue bubble on the screen, which was pulsing a few meters in front of her, located behind one of the warehouses parked on something that looked like a pier, and she lifts her chin up a little and narrows her eyes, letting out a short sigh and her breath could be seen for a short moment. She then shifts her eyes to scope out for anything unusual, analyzing the perimeters before making a her next move, deciding how thrilling this really was.

She shuts off her phone and places it inside of her coat pocket, stepping over the metal gate and approaching the warehouses and the clicking of her heels echo throughout the yard.


	4. Fourth Dance

_December 20th_

 _3 Hours ago_

* * *

It was 10 a.m when Sumika Shuhei clocked into work, taking his time to get to his office but when he entered the Obsidian Animation department, he was faced with chaos as his colleagues rushed around and he stood there half awake and confused. He remembered hearing yelling, sobs and groans of frustration. The air filled with a heavy gloom, even though it was the holiday season.

It wasn't long until his co-worker and friend, Takeuchi Soma, throws a flash drive at him, demanding that he takes it to Glassvale Entertainment immediately.

"This is stored with the last frames for Brotherhood Consequence's holiday episode and Takeo will kill us if we don't get it to him soon!" He yells and Shuhei sighs, unfazed and tired. "Do NOT lose this! There's over fifteen-hundred frames on this and we've already incorporated the in-betweening animations."

"Yeah yeah, I got you, I'll head out...even though I just got here." Shuhei takes the flash drive and heads out slowly, hearing the department cheer and sigh with relief.

It's been almost two months since Shuhei joined the Iridescent Clan, or better known as Iris, or Iris Corporation, and a year being employed at Rush Studios. He was convinced to join by Soma and another guy name Fujita Toshiro, the only two guys who bothered to talk and tease him at work, and occasionally, a girl name Shirakura Kanae, who was interning at the studio and often brings the crew donuts for breakfast.

Shuhei headed back to the hallway, but he nearly runs into the Iridescent King, Takahiro Shizuka, and three other girls he recognized as Tsukina, Ayana, and Nanako. The four were discussing about a secret Santa game and Shizuka was asking if the trio were participating after explaining that she was looking for clansmen who haven;t replied about the game yet.

He remembered about a party happening in a few days as he slowly backed away without them noticing him, but he wasn't too interested in it. He was also reminded that he didn't tell anyone of his decision and wondered if Shizuka would end up asking him about it too...but he thought it didn't matter since she probably wouldn't remember an anti-social person like him, after all, he hasn't spoken to the King since the day he received the Iridescent Aura; however, from that time until now, he discovered he had this ability to manipulate his Aura, hardening it and making a shield or twisting it into a weapon. It was remarkable...and terrifying.

He glances around the corner to see if the women were still around, which they were, and he eyes Shizuka. Recalling that she was a year younger than him and he thought she was very strange with her happy-go-lucky personality, and he kind of hated it, not entirely sure why though, but at least she was nice.

He decides to take another route to the elevators, heading to the ground floor and requesting to borrow one of the company cars since it was cold outside. He had taken a bullet train from Iris Headquarters to the studio and he didn't feel like taking it again in this kind of weather, plus it would save him a bit of money.

After receiving the keys and signing a sheet of the time he left the building, he heads to the parking lot, clicking the unlock button on the key fob to find the vehicle matched to it. An apricot colored car blinking nearby and he climbs inside, turning on the engine and cranking the heater up high, shivering against the cold and rubbing his hands together.

Once the car warms up he pulls out and heads to Glassvale Entertainment. On the road, he hits all green lights and makes it to the company in almost ten minutes and he felt pretty lucky at the moment, normally it would have taken him longer. He parks as close as he could get to the building and steps out, rushing in to be greeted by Midorikawa Kotaro, the front desk attendant for the day.

"Good morning, Sumika-kun." He says.

"G-Good morning, Midorikawa-san." Shuhei says as he leans against the counter. "I'm here on delivery service and I have the last thousand frames for the Bloomingtide department."

"Ah, I'm gonna warn you that Takeo-san will be at your throat when you see him today. He's a bit grumpy. Probably missed his shot of coffee." Kotaro jokes but Shuhei was unfazed as he hands him a clipboard to sign in, suddenly noticing that ground floor was more crowded than usual today.

"Something going on right now?" Shuhei asks, handing the clipboard back to Kotaro.

"Ah, models contracted with Glassvale are coming in for a holiday photoshoot as a memento. Preeetty exciting." Kotaro chuckles but Shuhei didn't seem interested and scratches the back of his head, feeling uneasy.

"Alright, go on ahead now. I'll see you when you get back."

"Thanks."

Shuhei heads towards the elevator, pressing the button to call for it and shoves his hands into the pocket of his jeans. He yawns and hears the elevator opening, stepping aside as a few people step out and he slips in afterwards. He hits the button to the fourth floor where the Bloomingtide department resides. The doors begin closing until he hears someone shouting to hold it open and he was quick to catch it as they open back up.

A guy runs in, catching his breath as Shuhei steps back to let him press the button to his floor.

"Thanks a lot." He speaks and Shuhei looks at him, his eyes widening as he recognizes the guy. He soon turns to him as well, slightly stunned but gives a devilish grin. "Ho~ if it isn't Shu."

Shuhei feels his eyebrow twitch and a feeling of disgust grows inside his stomach with the mockery.

"Heeh, it's Hazuki Ryu." He finally croaks out, acting normal and swallowing his pride while Ryu sneers.

He was the same height as Shuhei, with wild light brown hair and aqua colored eyes. He was 18 and attended Ashinaka High school, which is currently closed down, but that didn't explain why the kid was at Glassvale.

He was wearing a dark brown suit jacket with a faded light gray plaid texture on it. Underneath he wore a creamy colored knit vest with maroon and dark brown horizontal zigzags over a light blue suit jacket and a burgundy suit tie with snowflakes on it. He wore black jeans and light brown ankle high boots.

It was taking Shuhei all his strength to hold himself from grabbing the kid and beating him down at this moment. After all, the two had a very long history.

Ryu used to date Shuhei's little sister, Inaba, and he turned her life into a nightmare by physically and emotionally abusing her, causing Shuhei to develop this intense hatred towards him, hoping for the day he would crush him to end her never ending pain. He was always responsible for her, since their parents were working overseas all the time, and the two were close.

At first, Shuhei was alright with the kid and hoped his sister would be happy, but things escalated quickly when he found Inaba coming home with bruises and at night he would hear her sobbing after a long day of hiding her suffering with smiles.

Eventually, he was able to convince her to call of their relationship and it took a long, long time. It was just last week when it all ended...or so he thought.

The guy was _obsessed_ with his sister, and not in a good way. He hasn't left her alone, threatening her, stalking her, texting and calling every hour...and Shuhei was nearly at his limit, prepared to file a lawsuit..or kick his ass.

The latter seemed more satisfying to Shuhei.

Although Ryu appeared to be a cool and charming guy, underneath his mask, he was actually conceited, sadistic, and in Shuhei's opinion, psychotic.

Even though he loathed Ryu, he put up this front towards the kid so he doesn't have any idea that he was despised, knowing that the time and day would come when Shuhei could destroy him, since he had the Iridescent Aura on his side.

"You're not gonna ask how I've been or why I'm here?" Ryu asks and he wanted to groan in pain, but he faces him head on.

"Ah, my bad. I'm still trying to wake up." Shuhei lies, keeping it cool.

"You're too slow so I'll just tell you." Ryu sounded irritated and Shuhei had to bite his tongue from saying something rude. "You probably didn't hear. I've been contracted with Glassvale Entertainment as a model for a while now, so we might work together at some point. Sounds fun doesn't it?" He grins and Shuhei was a bit surprised. He didn't know the kid was scouted as a model...and it made him a bit uncomfortable too.

"Hmph, but do you think you can keep up with how things roll here?" Shuhei provokes and Ryu snickers, the elevator stopping at his floor.

"Of course, I'll prove it to you...so I look forward to working with you sometime." He steps out of the elevator, giving Shuhei a child-like grin and it took all of his strength from punching in his face. "Oh, and one more thing," He stops and holds the elevator doors open and Shuhei lifts an eyebrow. "There's something I need to talk to you about, so don't head out of the building until after my photoshoot."

"You'll have to tell me later since I'm working right now. Sorry kid." Shuhei answers, although he was curious to what Ryu was hiding and he watches him release his hands from the elevator doors, a grin on his face still.

"I see." He says as the doors shut.

Shuhei lets out a sigh of relief, surprised that he was able to contain his composure, and leans against the elevator wall, frowning.

He was finally on his floor and rushes down the hall to the Bloomingtide department and prepares for a storm.

He spent nearly an hour reviewing the flash drive with Wakaba Takeo, head of the Brotherhood Consequence project. He was a youthful middle aged man, but strict with projects and deadlines. He was normally dressed in a suit and tie, but today, he really did miss his shot of coffee like Kotaro said, since he was just wearing a royal blue dress shirt and black pants and his hair was a bit wild.

After a confirmation with the frames, Shuhei was able to leave, feeling mentally exhausted and thinking about grabbing some coffee when he got back to the studio. He meets up with Kotaro again at he front, signing the sheet as he departs.

Once he stepped outside, a chilly breeze sent shivers throughout his body, but his mind felt cooler and he felt a little more awake. Unlocking the car, he steps inside, reaching for his seat belt and starting the engine. He sits and waits for the car to warm up, rubbing his hands together and reaching to the radio to switch it on until he hears something click near his head and he whips around to come face to face with a gun; and the person holding it...was Ryu.

"Let's go for a ride, Shu-chan. And don't ask any questions if you don't want to get hurt."

Shuhei was speechless. He wasn't expecting this turn of events as he pulls out of the parking lot, unsure how to feel, even with a gun pointed at his head.

Ryu orders Shuhei to drive a few miles away from Glassvale and they end up parking at an alley.

"Get out with your hands over your head." Ryu demands and he steps out of the car.

"Alright, Ryu...what are you playing right now?" Shuhei asks, raising his hands up and turning to face him, but that was the last thing he remembers before feeling a sharp pain on his neck as he hits the floor, his world turning dark and he hears muffled voices and footsteps.


	5. Fifth Dance

_December 20th_

* * *

Shuhei had awoken to the sudden feeling of ice cold water thrown on his body.

His eyes snap open and he immediately shivers from the cold, trembling more against the faint winter breeze as he looks around frantically, but he finds himself restrained with his wrists tied behind his back and his ankles as well, laying on his side against a concrete floor. His head slightly pounded and his right shoulder felt sore.

"Hooo, that was cold wasn't it?" One of them snickers as the other guy tosses aside a yellow bucket and it makes a loud thud that rings through Shuhei's ears. He sees another bucket filled with ice and water, assuming they were going to throw it on him again at some point. _Horrible._ He thought. _And it's winter too!_ He knew that he could try to form a small knife with his Aura and cut the cords free, but he was being watched and he didn't want to be drenched in water again.

He glances around his surrounding area but he was not in the alley as he remembered, instead, he was in a large, garage-like building with a few boats on trailers near the walls, pulleys hung from black rails on the ceiling and he could smell and hear the ocean. He strains as he reaches to his back pocket for his PDA, hoping he could try to send for help, but it wasn't there and he felt distressed.

"Yo, Shu.~ You were a bit tired this morning so I hope you're more awake now." He hears a familiar voice and glances up to see Ryu. A wave of anger washes over him and he clenches his fists as he kneels down in front of him.

"...Where am I?" Shuhei speaks through gritted teeth, controlling his voice even though his body was spazzing out from the cold.

"We're in Shizume City, can't you hear the ocean?" Ryu asks, grabbing Shuhei and forcing him onto his knees so the two could be eye level to each other.

"Shizume City?!" He asks, confused and shocked.

"Yep! But don't expect anyone to come after you since we ditched your PDA somewhere on the road, so it's just you and me here...and my goons, but anyways Shu, let's get to business and be real with me now. I don't want you acting as if you like me because you don't." He says as his aqua colored eyes give off a vicious glow and Shuhei grins, chuckling to himself.

"Well, I thought I was playing the role of, 'the brother who doesn't know what's going on between his sister and her _psycho_ ex' pretty well, but I shouldn't be surprised that you were able to see through me." Shuhei speaks.

"Psycho, huh?" Ryu snickers, narrowing his eyes at him while rubbing his chin and standing up slowly, stepping a bit away, pondering for a moment and soon turning around and smashing his fist into Shuhei's jaw. He grunts, tasting blood in his mouth.

"I think I treat Inaba respectively. She is, after all, a cute girl with a conservative personality...and I wanted to break her from that. " Ryu scoffs as Shuhei spits out blood. "Don't get me wrong though, I'm very attracted to her and out of all the women I've dated, she's the best so far...but someone had to take her from me. " As Ryu explains, he brushes his fingers through his hair and has a confident sneer on his face, until Shuhei's laughter causes him to frown and his mouth twitches angrily

"So, were you really contracted to Glassvale?" Shuhei asks.

"No way. I just wanted to mess with your head before bringing you here." Ryu gives him a taunting sneer.

"Are you some kind of monster?" Shuhei asks and Ryu narrows his eyes at him again. "No...you're just a spoiled, bratty kid who throws fits when you don't get your way." He clenches his jaw as he grins, glaring at Ryu with hatred burning in his eyes, and he does the same, looking grim.

"So...I'm going to kill you, and then Inaba can be free from you." Shuhei was trembling with anger and Ryu laughs.

"I can't take you seriously with your teeth chattering, besides, you can't even _touch_ me." He continues laughing and snaps his fingers. Shuhei watches Ryu's henchmen approach him and they grab him from under the arms, dragging him away.

"Hey! Lemme go! You can't seriously be doing this for him!" Shuhei shouts with fury, struggling to set himself free from their grasps but he was tossed into the trunk of car which was over flowing with loosely shaved ice. He was still able to see Ryu if he lifts his head but he was unable to move around with his clothes sticking to the now packed ice shaving.

"And the tables have turned!~" He sees Ryu stretching his arms out and approaching the car, a twisted, satisfied look on his face. "Take a break and go for a swim in the ocean, Shu. I'll even let you take your car...by the way, thanks for letting us borrow it." He joins his henchmen and they stare down at Shuhei. "Ah, but you won't be driving though."

Shuhei swallows hard, feeling the ice biting at his fingers and ears. He was beginning to feel drowsy and his body had slightly stopped shaking, but he felt humiliated, having to be seen like this by his enemy.

Suddenly, he sees a shadow approaching from behind Ryu and his men, faintly hearing the sound of high heels as Ryu was about to shut the hood of the trunk down, but they too hear the approaching guest and pause to turn around.

When they do, the person becomes more visible to Shuhei and his eyes widen, forgetting about the cold for a short moment as he fixates his eyes on Takahiro Shizuka.

"My, my...what have we here?" She stops slightly behind the ice bucket Shuhei saw earlier when he awoke, and she was smirking. Although she wasn't holding any weapons in her hands, the guns on her heels made her an immediate threat to Ryu and his men as they pull their guns out at her.

"Hah? Who is this woman?" Ryu questions with a stern face, "State your business here!" He demands, suddenly furrowing his eyebrows as if to realize something else. "And how did you get pass my snipers?"

"Now that isn't any way to talk to a lady, and we haven't even made any introductions either." Shizuka shrugs, looking past Ryu and his men, seeing that Shuhei was turning a very ghostly pale color and his clothes were drenched, slightly frozen and he was shivering uncontrollably with the snow inside of the trunk of the company car.

She lifts an eyebrow, slightly cocking her head to the side, knowing she didn't have much time before Shuhei undergoes severe hypothermia. He already looked like he was about to be on a moderate stage of it.

Ryu was irritated with the woman's attitude and he takes a gun out, the same one he used to threaten Shuhei with.

"I demand to know who you are and what you did to my men!" He shouts angrily and Shizuka sighs, placing her hands on her hips and shifting her weight to one leg, analyzing her situation. _This kid looks about Shin's age._ She thought. _Anyways, they don't seem like Red Clansmen, probably a private matter's going on here...but I wonder what history he has with Sumika-san. Well it doesn't matter at the moment..._

"Come now, there's no need to yell, shall we dance on this instead? I prefer a nice slow waltz...that is...if you know how to anyways. It gives the dancers some time to talk and get to know each other, so what do you say?" Shizuka asks, striking a pose as if she was in a pageant show, a hip thrusted to the side, her right hand in the air and her left remains on her waist. Shuhei felt a little embarrassment with her little presentation.

 _Wh-What the hell?! I can't tell if she's being serious or not!_ He thought, glancing at Ryu and his men to see if he wasn't the only one thinking the same and they were also puzzled, but then he realizes that they weren't paying attention to him anymore.

"What a fucking weird ass woman." One of Ryu's henchmen comments.

"Yeah, I agree." The other replies.

It occurs to him that it didn't matter and how he can take this chance to use his Aura to make a small knife. He does so and begins cutting the cord around his wrists carefully but quickly, clenching his jaw and struggling with his fingers numb and slightly in pain.

"So, does she mean to talk about this or fight?" One henchmen asks, but then Ryu begins walking towards Shizuka with the gun still aimed at her, also unsure of what she was trying to say to the men. She drops her arm and gives a pleased smile as he approaches, but he doesn't drop his gun when he glances down at her high heels to see a pair of heavy autorevolvers latched on her shoes.

"Fine, you have my attention for the moment.." His eyes trail up her long legs and skirt, then hips and breasts and finally returns to looking at her in the eyes. He notices that she gave off this soft, radiating glow, and she seemed different from any other woman he's seen and met.

"My name's Hazuki Ryu, eighteen years old and a third year at Ashinaka High School. And you are?"

"Takahiro Shizuka, twenty-four years old and chairman of Iris Corporations where I also work as the monitor." She answers confidently "Well, I appreciate the introductions but I haven't had lunch yet and it's also the holidays so there's still much to be done before the party." She continues, puzzling Ryu and his men with her monologue. "And that man, Sumika Shuhei, is on a guest list we've prepared. So would you mind handing him over and we can be off on our merry way?" She was polite when asking, adding a pun to brighten the mood, but Ryu somehow felt insulted with the way she talked and stood his ground.

Shuhei was shocked that Shizuka remembered his name, or who he even was, despite the fact how this was the first time they met since he joined Iris.

"Ha! Nice try but even if he is the guest of honor I still wouldn't hand him over. He's _my_ prey! I've been waiting for this moment for a long time and you can't take this away from me! You have _no right_!" Ryu shouts, his face burning with fury, but Shizuka didn't flinch from his words, maintaining a calm attitude in the situation, which made him even more aggravated

"Ah, but you see, I made a mess on the way here and broke some laws, so that Blue Clan will be coming if we don't settle this quickly, so let's can handle this peacefully without any trouble. You allow me to take Sumika-san back safely and you and I can both avoid being interrogated by them, ne?" She proposes as if there was nothing to worry about, but Ryu snickers doubtfully.

"Thank you for the warning, but I'm more satisfied ending things with Shu sunk to the bottom of the ocean and freezing to death. After that, I'll make you submit to me, and we'll be long gone before Scepter 4 finds us...yeah, that sounds nice." He flashes Shizuka one of his charming smiles, which he knew was effective to all women and they couldn't resist it. Shuhei felt grossed out and he hears Ryu's henchmen snickering and joking about something, which he assumed was perverted and he felt even more disgusted.

Shizuka lifts her chin up a little and softly grins at him. Ryu takes it that she was interested in serving him and feels powerful, chuckling to himself as a victory.

"Hmph. Wrong answer." She finally replies, brushing aside her bangs with her pinky finger, and he was drawn aback, seeing her giving him a devil-like sneer and he flinches, stunned that he was turned down and had wasted precious time, which makes him angry. She takes a step forward and the moment she moved, he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, a strong desire to dispose her so he could continue his business with Shu overcomes him, but everything seemed to slow down.

In Shuhei's eyes, he watches Shizuka's pearl-like Aura shielding her from the bullet, stopping midair, and the barrier shatters like glass as it disappears in sparks.

Ryu was appalled, taking a step back as he continues shooting at her, the gunshots resonate against the shattering glass and it stops when he runs out of bullets, the gun clicking empty. He quickly reaches into his coat to pull out another magazine, but a sudden spark of light from Shizuka's heels blinds him as she kicks up the bucket that was in front of her. The ice and cold water sprays towards a surprised Ryu and he dodges it, but his right arm becomes soaked and he drops the magazine.

Meanwhile, Shuhei had managed to free his wrists, flexing his fingers to circulate the blood, and while Ryu's henchmen stood in awe as they watch everything go down, he sits up, fighting the drowsy feeling taking over his body as he carves away at the cords around his ankles.

"So close..." Shizuka laughs as she mocks Ryu, who was rooted to the ground, bewildered with the woman agility and powers as she kicks away the magazine and it slides underneath one of the trailers in the warehouse, kept out of reach for anyone. He then grits his teeth, hugging his right arm close to his body to keep it warm and slightly hunching over like a cornered animal. She then faces the henchmen who were still aiming their guns at her, unsure how they are suppose to respond, but before they make a move, Shizuka quickly performs a double bicycle kick, shots fired, and their weapons fly out of their hands, surprising them for a moment.

"What are you doing you clowns!? Get her!" Ryu shouts and they do as he commands, rushing towards her as he begins to flee the scene.

In the heat of the moment, Shuhei frees himself and sees Ryu running away. Slightly disorientated, he could feel his face burning with rage as he pushes himself out of the trunk, chasing him down, praying that he could catch the kid before he escapes.

At the same moment, Shizuka deals with the henchmen, chopping one of the men in the neck with her right hand and he falls on the floor, knocked out, and the other rushes to tackle her down but she leans into a back hand spring, her feet catching the man's torso and she flips with him soaring above and landing a few feet away. He groans in pain, rolling on the ground as Shizuka returns to her feet.

Everything was moving so fast but Shuhei felt slow, his body fighting against the frigidness as he closes in on Ryu, who was unaware that he was being chased, slowing his pace as he exits the warehouse to turn, but Shuhei catches up for finally, grabbing Ryu's arm, swinging him back into the warehouse.

"What the fuck?!" Ryu gasps, catching a quick glimpse of Shuhei's vengeful expression before a fist smashes into his face and he sees black and red. Shuhei pants heavily and kneels over Ryu's body. Rage overcomes his thoughts and his mind replays moments of when his sister came home with bruises and marks, he could almost hear her sobbing, and the conversation she had on the phone with Ryu before they finally broke up.

He grabs the collar of Ryu's shirt, who was unconscious, and punches him in the face again. Raising his fist once more, he concentrated his Aura around his knuckles, forming spikes at the end, ready to make the killing blow into Ryu's skull, until someone grabs his wrist and he was unable to move.

"Enough." He hears Shizuka and his eyes widen in shock, his red turned vision fades as he blinks, eyeing the unconscious Ryu, whose face was beginning to bruise , and taking a deep breath before standing, feeling cold once again as his rage disappears and he hugs himself, shivering.

Shizuka then tends to Ryu, leaning him up against the wall back in the warehouse and reaching into her coat pocket, pulling out a pale blue handkerchief and dabbing the blood from face. Shuhei stood a few feet away, not wanting to be near the kid as he trembles, his clothes beginning to feel stiff and his hair as well. It was weird how he hasn't frozen to death after being soaked with water out in the cold. Perhaps it was because he is a bit stronger than normal as an Iridescent Clansmen. He suddenly feels something warm placed over his shoulders, which he recognizes as another coat, and he turns around to see Shizuka giving him a childish grin, whom had offered it.

"Well now. Let's head out and get you warmed up...and a new set of clothes, my god! Let's hurry!" She pushes him in front of her, grinning happily and humming her favorite song.

"W-Wait, hold on, what's gonna happen now? What about the company car?" Shuhei questions as they walk outside, snow was beginning to fall and Shizuka makes sure Shuhei was doing alright as they return to her car, and he was also looking out for her since she didn't have a jacket. Inside the vehicle, she turns the heater on to full blast once she starts the engine.

"Oi, are you okay with Scepter 4 taking care of things here?" He continues holding his hands up to the heater and rubbing his hands together.

"Scepter 4, huh?" Shizuka mutters to herself as she buckles up, trying to recall the Blue Clan's insignia, wondering if they were really called by that name.

"What?" Shuhei asks.

"It's nothing. Anyways, they can deal with the boy and his hired goons, I got what I came for so it's not my problem, and I'm not too worried about facing them if they come knocking at my door." She steps on the gas pedal and makes an extremely sharp U-turn, driving away from the scene with Shuhei holding onto to dear life once again.

He was also a little troubled and confused with her answer, but he didn't want to question her. After witnessing her powers, he was confident she can take care of herself, nevertheless, she is a King.

Leaning back in his seat and hugging himself tighter, he breathes in, catching Shizuka's scent from her coat as he inhales a floral-like fragrance. It was a very subtle scent and he didn't dislike it, preferring the flower-like aroma over cotton candy or anything to that sort. _Spring._ He thought, imagining a meadow surrounded by different blossoming flowers and trees, soft rainfall and a rainbow overlooking the scenery.

"Sumika Shuhei." Shizuka speaks his name, interrupting his thoughts and he felt embarrassed for some reason, but also shocked as he looks at her with wide eyes, still impressed that she knew his name.

"Y-Yes?" He finally manages to answer.

"That boy..." She begins slowly. "What did he to do you that made you want to kill him?"

He rubs his hands together again, and he begins to explain what had happened between Ryu, him and his sister, then he explains about how his day started out as well as losing his PDA, angry that he was being toyed with. She listens carefully to his story as she navigates through Shizume City and returning to the interstate. It made him feel a little better talking about it, but at the same time, he didn't think he would ever forgive Ryu.

"With your help today...I'm sure things will settle down...for reals this time." He glances out the window, watching the cars fly by. "How did you find us anyways? You must have done some crazy detective work or something, which is really impressive."

Shizuka chuckles at his compliment.

"We have tracking devices on all of our company cars for theft purposes, and in situations like yours, it definitely proves that we need them. So, you are very fortunate." She explains, gently smiling as she turns on the windshield wipers with the snow coming in quick. "I'm _always_ looking out for everyone."

He felt a little fuzzy in his stomach when she said that and finds himself slightly blushing, relieved he was facing away from her so she doesn't see him. He then questions why he was suddenly feeling so anxious and shuts his eyes tightly.

"By the way, are you feeling alright? I'm driving as fast as I could back to Iris to get you checked out." She suddenly asks, nearly frightening him with her outburst, opening his eyes.

"Y-Yeah I feel fine, surprisingly. I've never felt so cold in my life." He replies, remembering how drowsy he felt and how he stopped shaking when Ryu's men threw him in that pile of shaved ice in the trunk. He thought he had frozen for a bit, surprised he managed to be so quick chasing Ryu down even after all he's been through.

"You really are a lucky guy. That boy sure knows how to torture his subjects, I can't imagine the pain you went through." She replies and Shuhei rubs his eyes.

"Yeah...he's a sadist..." He answers and Shizuka quickly glances over at him, making sure he was really alright. The more Shuhei thought about what happened, he still hadn't thanked her for showing up at the right time, but he felt a bit guilty, knowing she went through a lot of trouble to be there for him.

"Er...I...you know...th-thanks for...thank you for your hard work." He says quietly, his face turning red and he hears her giggle, making him feel more timid.

"You're welcome."


	6. Sixth Dance

_December 20th_

* * *

It was snowing a bit heavier as the day progressed but all is tranquil.

Scepter 4's lieutenant, Awashima Seri, had entered the warehouse, brushing the snow from her coat and hood as she scans the area. She finds several empty buckets, one was knocked further away from the others and there was a large puddle of water on the ground, icing over from the cold. She then sees Benzai Yojiro and Hidaka Akira lingering around a trailer with a sailboat on it back and she approaches them. Yojiro kneels down and reaches under the trailer to find a stray gun clip, standing back up when he retrieves it.

"What did you find?" Seri asks and the two men turn to her.

"Ah, just a magazine clip. It seems like someone was being smart during the fight that happened here." Akira explains as Yojiro hands Seri the magazine.

"This belongs to the gun that young man had." She says, examining it and noticing silver scrape marks on the black steel, the result of someone kicking it away, and she hands it back to Akira.

"Any updates?" She asks, returning her attention to the men.

"Yes, we discovered that one of the men who were left unconscious outside is a Strain as we tried to apprehend him. It seems he has the ability to read fast body movements, which is probably why he was given a sniper, but for him to be left unconscious, he seems to lacks the actual physical quality to act on the visual information." Yojiro explains and Seri was astounded.

"And right now, Captain Munakata is dealing with the suspects and Fushimi is investigating that car with the snow in it." Yojiro continues and Seri turns to the apricot car a few meters ahead. "Also, we found eight bullet shells, but the only weapon actually needed to be reloaded was the gun that kid had. No one has any external wounds from a weapon, so that means there was someone else here other than these guys."

"I see..." Seri mutters, "Good work. I'll let you return to your duties." She says, tossing the magazine back to Yojiro and walks off as they salute to her.

She makes her way towards Fushimi Saruhiko, Scepter 4's third-in-command, approaching an abandoned vehicle at the other end of the warehouse that faced the ocean with the garage panel pulled up.

Saruhiko was in the driver's seat of the vehicle, checking the glove-box and dashboard for anything useful and he hears Seri, but doesn't turn to look at her.

"Find anything?" She asks, watching as he shuts the glove-box, sighing as he slowly climbs out from the car and turning to her.

"Well, to begin with..." He scratches the back of his head as he glances over to the back of the vehicle. "Our suspects have filled the trunk with shaved ice, so it wasn't the cause of the snowfall since it's still parked inside; even with the panel open there's no way the snow could come in. I'm convinced they filled those buckets and poured it in, which could explain why they're laying around, and there are signs of a struggle, with the blood a few feet from here and the shavings packed down in some areas, as if someone was trying to stuff someone else inside, but the victim somehow managed to free himself, who may have been tied with these cords." Saruhiko leads Seri to the trunk, pointing the evidences out, finding wrapped cable cords cut into pieces. "We haven't found a knife or anything sharp anywhere though, but we did find bullet shells, eight of them."

"Yes, Benzai told me about that." Seri comments and he continues, turning to the sea, "With the way vehicle is parked facing the ocean and a pier leading out from here, it seems like they planned on driving it out there and drowning whoever would be in the trunk. With the windows busted in like this, it'd make the process quicker, so we can conclude that this is the scene of an attempted murder, but was first a kidnapping." Saruhiko finishes and Seri feels troubled.

"So, with the calls about that speeding car...could it be linked to this?" She asks and Saruhiko shrugs.

"It could be since we were lead here. I found a tracking device under the driver's seat and looked into the system which matches the license plate and belongs to a company named Rush Studios, but that's not all..." Saruhiko steps aside and points to a specific design on the vehicle. "You might want to talk to Munakata about this." He taps a finger on the insignia and Seri takes one last glance at it before thanking him for his hard work, turning away and quickly walking out of the warehouse.

At this moment, Hazuki Ryu, who was handcuffed, was being led to the Scepter 4 trucks by Hiromi Akiyama, Ryuho Kamo, and Domyoji Andy. Ryu was following his other men in a line, as if they were already in prison, and were identified as: Ohno Kei, Matsumoto Hiroki, Sho Misaka, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Tagami Yoichi.

The snow stuck onto their clothes and hair, making the six men feel even more miserable.

Ryu had awoken not too long before Scepter 4 arrived. His face and head throbbing in pain, and to be surrounded by the Blues made it pound even more painfully. They were suddenly told to stop and were approached by Captain Munakata Reisi, his hands behind his back and his head held high. He wore an elaborate blue military uniform with a hood to keep the snow off his hair.

"Oi, what's gonna happen to us?" Misaka, who was one of the snipers Takahiro Shizuka had taken down, asks when the Blue King stops.

"You will be taken to Scepter 4 headquarters for questioning, normally we would have the interrogation here, but with the snow coming in and the weather persisting, we will head back." Reisi explains and the men grumble, except for Ryu, who glared intensely at the Captain, who notices it and gives a chuckle.

"You look like you have something to say."

"Yeah...I want retribution." Ryu states and all was quiet.

"Stop it Ryu," Kei speaks but it angers Ryu.

"No! Shut the fuck up you _filthy Strain_! You're another reason why we're in this mess! I can't believe you kept that hidden from me all this time-if only that woman didn't show up this wouldn't have happened!" Ryu snaps and his men were shocked with his outburst

"Wow, thanks. Now I can see why Shuhei thought you were crazy so I'm kind of glad we're caught now." Kei replies to Ryu in a calmly manner.

"Enough." Reisi speaks, silencing the suspects, but he was curious to know who this woman was Ryu spoke about. "What were you saying about a woman?"

"Ah, that bitch...Takahiro Shizuka." Ryu glances away, irritated and Reisi narrows his eyes. _Takahiro Shizuka?_ He asked himself.

"She put us all on our asses, so I'd say that she isn't someone to mess with..." Ninomiya interrupts. "Especially if Kei couldn't take her on with that ability of his, but aren't all women crazy?"

"Hey now..." Kei mutters, feeling ashamed.

"Is that so?" Reisi adjusts his glasses, interested. "Change of plans, we will commence operations here and now. Please escort the men to separate trucks and prepare for questioning, we will wait out the snow if it worsens."

"Yes sir!" Akiyama, Kamo and Andy salute in unison.

Ryu clicks his tongue angrily as he and the Captain glare at each other before he was taken away, but at that moment, the Blue King notices something off about the peaked lapels of his suit jacket, catching a glimmering card underneath his left, front lapel

"Hold on one moment please." Reisi speaks and everyone pauses as he approaches Ryu, who gives him a confused look as the captain reaches out at him. He flinches back as Reisi's fingers brush underneath the lapel of his jacket and he pulls out the card, leaving Ryu speechless and confused.

"What the-what is that?" Ryu didn't know such a thing was there and questions about it, but Reisi just grins, placing his hands behind his back as if nothing happened

"That is all. Thank you."

The men were taken away in confusion as Reisi turns around, walking towards the dock and looking out at the sea.

"Captain Munakata." He hears Seri but doesn't budge, instead, he looks at the card in his hand, keeping his other arm behind his back as the lieutenant approaches.

"There is something I wish to speak to you about." She joins his side, leaving an even amount of space between them and she sees that he is holding a business card. It was a metallic-like pale blue color, with a pearl sheen on both sides that gave off a sparkling effect, but it was blank, with no contact information or anything on it.

"What is that?" Seri asks and Reisi chuckles, handing the card to her and she takes it and it quickly reflects a rainbow spectrum in the process, but what surprised her more was when she turns it at a certain angle, she can see a glimmering, solid white kiss mark right in the center, accompanied with strings of pearls on the borders, but it disappears at other certain angles, almost like those 3d lenticular cards, but it wasn't.

"Wow, this is...impressive." Seri continues eyeing the card with fascination and soon clears her throat. "A-Anyways, Captain. I wanted to speak to you about the vehicle inside the warehouse."

"Ah, yes." Reisi replies, keeping his gaze to the ocean and Seri turns to it as well, holding onto the card.

"It's entitled to a company name Rush Studios and it bears a particular symbol...one that belongs to-"

"The 6th King. The Iridescent King." Reisi interrupts her and she nods her head. "A blossoming iris identifies that Clan, who is large in the art and media industries. A colorful array of artists from around the nation, a King who exists to contrast the late Colorless King."

"Hai." Seri agrees with him and looks at the card again. "A white vehicle with a pearl luster, a business card with the same effect...this could mean that they were here then, but...why did they leave? And why leave this card behind?"

"To avoid confronting Scepter 4, of course." Reisi smirks. "And the card is could be a potential sign that she had the situation taken care of, leaving us with the easier part of the job."

"Sh-She? The Iridescent King is a woman?" Seri asks and Reisi ponders for a moment.

"Just a feeling, that card is quite feminine don't you think?" He asks and Seri agrees with him "...but this needs to be looked into further before we can make any more assumptions and we have suspects to question before letting the local police take care of them, thus, I would request for your participation in this, if you would please?"

"Yes sir, of course, sir" She salutes and the two turn away to head back to the trucks. He maintains a calm smirk on his lips as he recalls the name of the woman Hazuki Ryu had spoken and feels as if he had connected the pieces to the puzzle.

 _Takahiro Shizuka...perhaps you are this Iridescent King?_

* * *

At Iris Corporation, Yayoi had just finished answering a phone call and is currently typing an email to a partner at Spire Publishing, but she is interrupted with a notification in her private email and she is drawn aback, familiar with the sender's address and she clicks on it immediately after saving her previous email as a draft.

It opens and her eyes run across the words on the screen. Soon, she leans back in her chair, keeping a hand on her mouse and narrowing her eyes.

"Ah...so you're heading home now. It'll be good to have the other director of operations to help out here." She grins, leaning forward, placing hand underneath her chin and re-reading the name on the last line of the email. "Ne, Kuriyama Ace?"


	7. Seventh Dance

_December 22nd_

* * *

Things have calmed since the day Sumika Shuhei was kidnapped and him and family are safe with Hazuki Ryu and his men imprisoned. Things are looking brighter for the holidays but it was also becoming very busy.

"After we give the tour, we have an appointment with Yukina-chan to discuss about the party tomorrow night." Shizuka points out to Yayoi as they headed to the Pearl Room of Iris Corporation, a special lounging area on the top floor with a spectacular view of Tokyo Metropolis. It was not only reserved for elite members of the Iridescent Clan, or for Shizuka, but for new members seeking to join.

"Hai." Yayoi replies.

"Which reminds me..do you know what I need? New heels without guns...we should go shopping later."

"You say that every year during this time of year, but you never get them." Yayoi answers as they laugh together.

The two wore similar light butter cream colored suits; however, Shizuka retained her signature guns on her black heels, and her garment was more feminine compared to Yayoi, who preferred pants over skirts and tights.

"So, these girls..should I be prepared for anything?" Shizuka asks as they pass by a set of glass doors into the second wing of the building.

" _I_ personally don't think so, but, it really depends on what they say in that room right? However...I'd like to say that I don't think they have any means to taking advantage of your influence." Yayoi answers, giving Shizuka a serious look.

"I see...well, whatever the case is, they joined at a fun time. They even get to attend the party if they wanted to, speaking of which, did you get my email earlier of the names of members attending? If not then, now you know."

Yayoi nods her head. "Yes, I have, good work on that, especially with what happened two days ago. That gave everyone a freight." Yayoi glances out the windows as they continue down the corridor to the Room. "You may have avoided the Blue Clan at the scene, but they will eventually come knocking at our doors, especially since they have impounded Rush Studio's vehicles. Zel-san wasn't happy to hear that, you know?"

"He can get over it. In any case, the Blue Clan were able to kill two birds with one stone over there so I think they'll let me off, besides, I have no problem being locked up in a cell if they ever take me in, as long as my Clan can be safe there's nothing to worry about." Shizuka beams, still as worry-free as ever.

"Your sentimentality is always appreciated." Yayoi says as they approach the Pearl Room, the doors opening automatically for them to reveal a cozy warm colored room. The floors were a bronze metallic epoxy with hints of other colors inside, finished with a reflective coating. In the center of the room, the floor was cut in a circular shape and rotated, it had a set of identical eggshell colored, crescent shaped couches with an apricot colored carpet. Glass windows surrounded the room, the evening sun rays gleam inside and there was a clear glass chandelier above with crystal beading hanging from it. The entire piece casts rainbow particles on the flooring from the sun. There was also a bar to the right, the white and caramel marble shelves were filled with newly stocked beverages from around the world and under the counter were sets of elaborate glass cups for any occasion.

Shizuka eyes the two girls sitting on the rotating couches, which was turned off for the day. They were possibly around their late teens or early twenties, and dressed modestly and casually. The two look at Shizuka and Yayoi, their eyes wide with surprised as if they were caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing, which Shizuka takes note of.

One of the girls had straight chocolate brown shoulder length hair, her bangs were distinct and swept to the left and she had sapphire blue eyes. The other girl looked very similar to her, but her hair was even shorter and her bangs were swept right.

 _Twins?_ Shizuka thought as she walks down a couple of steps to the girls; Yayoi following behind her quietly.

"Good evening, ladies. I hope you didn't have to wait too long." She takes a seat across from the girls and Yayoi stood behind her on standby. Shizuka then notices that they were still anxious and took it that they were nervous of the meeting.

"G-Good evening, ma'am, but no, we didn't wait long." The girl with longer hair spoke and the other nodded in agreement.

"That's nice to hear, now lets begin with introductions. As you may know, my name is Takahiro Shizuka, I am the chairman of Iris Corporations, also known as Iris Headquarters to Clansmen, where I work as the monitor and reside as the 6th King. And you two are?" Shizuka begins, holding a hand out to the girls and they feel a little reassured.

"My name is Hashimoto Marina and this is my younger sister, Tomoka, and we are really interested in joining your Clan!" The girl with long hair, Marina, introduces herself happily and her sister, Tomoka gives her greetings with the same attitude.

"Nice to meet you, Takahiro-san."

"Hai, nice to meet you." Shizuka smiles, trying to remember their names, analyzing their features while she was at it. "I say, this is the first time I had siblings wanting to join my clan together. In the past, one would join and eventually the other follows behind, so this is quit interesting." Shizuka gestures to both of the girls and they seemed to have relaxed. "Well then, tell me about yourselves...oh, but that's a bit hard to answer...hmm...how old are you two?"

"Ah, we're both 19, turning 20 on February the 3rd, but I'm three minutes older than Tomoka though." Marina answers and her sister nods her head.

"Any parents or other siblings?"

"It's just us right now."

"You don't have any relatives?"

"We have an uncle who took care of us until we were old enough to work." Marina says and Shizuka crosses her legs, resting her left arm over the top of the couch, leaning back while Yayoi remained silent as she watches the discussion continue.

"But beyond that, we were on our own throughout high school; however, we have no intention of tainting your Clan with falsehood, we really want to work under you-with manga!"

Shizuka watches the girls pull out folders from their bags.

"We used to stay late after school reading books in the library since our uncle was never home, when we were in middle school, we discovered that our library carried a few manga books and our high school did as well when we became first years. Back at home we didn't have internet either so we normally drew and read during our free time" Tomoka adds.

"That's how we became interested, so we are taking our chances with you and hoping you would accept us." Marina finishes as Yayoi walks over to the girls, taking their portfolios and handing them to Shizuka, who opens them carefully, flipping through and analyzing their works. They had their own different styles and one could have never guess that they were sisters with their drawings. She skims through a one-shot Marina made, enjoying her detail with characters and the development of the story. Next, she skims through Tomoka's, interested in her would-be manga's story as well; her use of toner and landscaping was excellent and she can visually see how well they both express their individuality despite being twin sisters.

 _It seems like they are doujinshi artists...and still starting out since none of these are finished yet._

After a few minutes, Shizuka closes the folders and holds onto them while the sisters give her anxious looks.

"I can see how much passion, love and care is put into this...although I do own several companies, we have a procedure for anyone interested in producing manga, or assisting with it." Shizuka explains and the two girls tense up. "First, you have to decide which company you want to contract with, right now, Coffee Royale and Spire Publishing are fighting for the number one spot in sales and popularity, so they will be a challenge to get in if you don't meet their expectations. Next, you submit your works, which will be reviewed by the board of directors, and if approved you will be notified as soon as possible." Shizuka holds her fingers up as she explains the process. "But the good news is that to solely commit to my Clan is fairly simple, if that makes you feel any better."

"Yes, we understand the process, we've done our research into this many times." the two sister say in unison, which astonishes Shizuka and she leans over, resting her chin in her palms and her elbows placed on top of her thighs.

"Spire Publishing is the company we plan on going for, and we won't give up even if we don't get contracted." Marina clenches a fist with a fiery spirit and Shizuka was very pleased to hear that.

"Very interesting..." She says softly. "I feel like things are going to look good for the both of you then, if you can keep up with deadlines however. Now...as a Clansmen, I provide housing and basic needs. You are free to roam and do as you please within the Iridescent territory, but I will warn you that we are not a clan of violence. Please do your best to keep it this way and stay out of trouble...although a clansman is not obliged to obey the King."

Her last words stun the girls and it was quiet for a moment.

"H-Hai..but you...you provide housing to your Clansmen?" Tomoka asks.

"Aha! Sorry if that was rude, please excuse her." Marine covers her sister's mouth with a hand but Shizuka isn't bothered since she was used to the reaction.

"Yayoi is charge of registering you to live here, after that, you are free to move in whenever you like." She explains, gesturing to Yayoi. Marina and Tomoka were both astonished, feeling like they could see a future within the Iridescent Clan.

"Is there anything I forgot to mention or if you have any questions? I can't think of anything else to cover." Shizuka taps a finger to her lips, looking at Yayoi who shrugs, then she glances at the girls, who were questioning each other if there was anything needed to be said.

"I think later on I'll have some questions, but I can't think of any right now." Marina says, scratching the back of her head.

"Hmm, are we allowed to have pets?" Tomoka asks.

"Yes, pet owners reside on one half of the building to keep members who are allergic at bay, but you are fully responsible for maintaining a clean apartment and controlling your animal. Failure to abide will result in its removal from the building." Yayoi states in a professional manner, impressing the girls.

"I see...that's all I have to say then." Tomoka laughs nervously.

"Excellent!" Shizuka claps her hands together then she sets aside the portfolios and stands up, gesturing for the girls to as well and they oblige. "With all things considered, I will now accept you as new members of the Iridescent Clan...may the colors dance in your honor."

She holds both of her hands out to them, smiling gently as Marina and Tomoka shyly take her hand and their bodies begin to emit a white, transparent glow, as if they were entrapped inside a crystal prism. With the sun peeking into the room, the Iridescent Aura sparkles, then suddenly it shatters like glass, but it had a soft sound, like the breeze brushing against sand dunes. The pieces pulse different colors as they spread out, then they slow down midair, coming to a halt; the girls watch in awe as the Aura then begins circling inward, focusing on a certain areas on their body.

Marina's upper left arm gleamed and Tomoka's right arm did as well as the two receive the Clan insignia tattooed on their skin, but to their confusion, there was nothing there.

The sisters and Shizuka release their grip and the two ran their hands over their arms.

"What happened?" Marina says, looking troubled as she examines Tomoka's arm and Shizuka places a hand on her hip.

"I will leave that as a surprise for you, but as a hint, just look towards the light. Come now, shall we give you a tour of Iris?" She walks behind the girls and pushes them towards the door, happily.

"W-What? Really?" Tomoka asks, then Marina links her arm with her sister with excitement.

"That would be really amazing! Let's go!~" Marina adds and Shizuka gestures them to go ahead for a moment. The two walk off discussing the wonders they will see while Shizuka and Yayoi catch up, who was holding onto their portfolios.

"Do you think you can keep up with identical twins?" Yayoi asks as they begin to leave the room.

"Hmm...I like a bit of a challenge. We'll just have to see what the future holds won't we?" Shizuka jests with a smirk and Yayoi brushes side her bangs with a soft smile as the two join the sister in the corridor, the doors to the Pearl Room silently close behind them.

* * *

Ito Yukina was excited for tomorrow night, for it was going to be the grandest holiday party ever conducted in history! She was a short, average twenty-four year old woman with very long somewhat wavy black hair; distinct, jagged bangs swept to the right, dark gray eyes and red glasses. She has been an Iridescent Clansmen for as long as Shizuka has reigned and was well acquainted with her.

She was a stereotypical hipster, knowledgeable with camera and art tools, and she enjoyed wearing men's jackets over women's during the winter, finding their clothes much warmer.

"It's too bad Shizuka-san said not to have any alcohol." She mutters to herself as she carefully adjusts the strap of her camera bag on her shoulder, since she had her Sun 600 Polaroid and Canon 600 D inside, then patting her left side to make sure she still had her fold-up baton was in tack, which she calls her anti-pervert weapon, and making her way back to the subway so she could meet with everyone at Iris.

"Haa, oh well, I guess there'll be under age kids there, so apple cider it is!"

She was currently in Shizume City, taking pictures of different areas as references for her new manga and to pass the time as she continued day dreaming about the party. She was walking through Shizume crossing, waiting for the streetlight to turn green, scribbling in a small notebook of ideas, biting the end of her pen and wondering how she could get a hold of a young model to wear a Gothic Lolita dress for a character design. _I'll have to think about that later when it's not Christmas, for now I'll just look around the internet and hope to find a good angle._ She thought, twirling her pen between her fingers. She then adjusts her red glasses, wondering how long it was gonna take until the light turns green and she glances around.

 _Hmm, I still haven't figured out what I want to wear...eh, but it's so cold._ She continues pondering, shoving her hands into her jacket, hiding her face in her scarf and trembling. She turns her attention back to the streetlight and it finally turns green. Everyone around her shifts forward and she moves along with the crowd, keeping her eyes forward and watching her step so she doesn't get swallowed. She had brushed aside her manga project for the moment to focus on the party again, until she catches a glimpse of red among the gray crowd and whips her head to the side, seeing a small girl with snow white hair wearing a red Gothic Lolita styled dress walking away.

"AH!" She shouts, pointing at the girl, startling the people around her and she chases the girl down as quickly as she could. "Oi!~ Little girl! Wait for a bit pleeeaassee!" She shouts, seeing that the cute girl was walking with a taller, overweight man, who she didn't see earlier.

She catches their attention with her outburst and they turn around and she slows her pace down, but before she could ask for a favor, she sees another guy quickly approaching on a skateboard, coming in fast in a crouch position, soon jumping upwards in a very high ollie. Yukina notices that he intends to land and attack on her and she reaches in her coat, grabbing her hidden fold up baton, flowing her Iridescent Aura into it to strengthen her defense, and blocking his onslaught. The actions cause a disruption and people began running away from around them.

"O-Oi, what's the meaning of this?!" Yukina shouts, thrusting her arm and retracting her Aura as the skateboard guy flips backward, landing perfectly on his feet between the cute girl and the overweight man.

"Hah?! I should be asking you that! What do you want with Anna?" The skater guy asks, kicking up his board and glaring at Yukina with golden eyes, and then he suddenly jerks back, blushing and stunned."What, _you're a girl_?!" He points at Yukina and she was drawn aback.

"Excuse me?!" She snaps, feeling offended and she wanted to grab the kid and strangle him.

"Oi, Yata, cut it out. You always act so weird around girls." The tall man smacks the kid in the head, grunting at the gesture and the he looks up at him.

"I-I'm not acting weird! Shut up, Rikio!" He shouts angrily, hitting the other guy name Rikio back and the cute girl reaches out to them.

"Please stop." She speaks in a soft voice and they cease.

"What...what is going on..." Yukina mutters to herself, folding her baton back and putting it inside her coat again.

"A-Anyways, just tell us what you want with Anna." The skater guy, who Yukina remembered the other man, Rikio, calling him Yata, avoided eye contact with her, and although she felt like he should apologize to her, she didn't really have the time or cared at the moment.

"Don't mind this guy." Rikio says.

"Uh...okay, but I was just wondering if I can take her picture." She gestures to the cute Lolita girl, who was called Anna by Yata.

"M-Me?" Anna asks, looking a little surprised but calm and Yukina nods happily, kneeling down to her height.

"I'm Yukina, a mangaka and a freelance photographer starting a new series. One of my supporting characters likes to wear Lolita fashion and _you_ fit the _perfect_ image of her!" Yukina forms a rectangle shape with her thumb and pointer fingers at Anna, who just blinks and watches her shuffle about.

"Ah! I have an actual camera, what am I doing? So you don't mind right? By the way, what's you name? Ah, if you're busy right now, we can always schedule another time and I can give you my business card? Please accept because I don't know when I'll be able to come back to Shizume City!" Yukina claps her hands together, begging the young girl who looks up at Rikio and Yata, both of the guys hesitating, finding Yukina a bit strange.

"It's up to you." Rikio says, looking at Anna gently. Yata grumbles, his hands clasped behind his head, turning away.

"Y-Yeah..." He grumbles and Anna looks back at Yukina.

"I'm fine with it then." She says calmly and Yukina cheers."And, my name name is Anna. These two are Rikio and Yata." She introduces herself along with the two other guys, which Yukina can confirm calling them that for now. She was then feeling excited, quickly taking out her Canon camera and then looking at the guys.

"Ah, nice to meet you." She says, bowing. Rikio was nice enough to return the gesture but Yata just nods his head, still feeling uncomfortable. "Alright, let's just get a normal front and back shot first, ne?" She asks, ignoring people as they walk by, staring.

"O-Okay, but I'm not so sure how my face should be like." Anna stands still as Yukina turns her camera to get a vertical portrait.

"It's fiiiine, just stand like that!" *snaps* "Peerfect." Yukina was excited and instructs Anna to pose in different ways. People walking by found the shoot a bit weird and Rikio and Yata step a few feet away, minding their own business.

After a few more shots, Yukina was satisfied, shutting her camera off and shaking hands with Anna.

"Hee hee~ That was fun, ah! I'd like to work with you again sometime if that's okay?" She asks and Anna was hesitant.

"Noooo waay!" Yata interrupts, approaching the two. "Anna only belongs to HOMRA and no one else! S-So since you're done now just leave already!"

"Hah?!" Yukina scoffs. "Why should I listen to someone who hasn't even apologized to me earlier yet?" Yukina stands up to argue, which makes Yata even more infuriated, causing Rikio to step in between them and Yukina suddenly realized something.

 _Huh? Did he say HOMRA?_ She had paused for a moment while Yata and Rikio peacefully settle things once again and she sees at the underside of his skateboard the Red Clan's insignia, which surprises her a little.

"Um..excuse me, but...can I see your camera?" Anna tugs on Yukina's coat and she looks at her wide eyed.

"E-Eh? Oh, um...maybe not this one, but I have another you can check out. It'll probably be easier for you to use." She kneels down again, pulling out her Polaroid and placing her Canon inside her camera bag. "Here you go. It's a Sun 600 Polaroid camera so it takes photos right on the spot, and as thanks for being my model, I'll let you use it for a bit. Free of charge.  
She winks at Anna, who examines the camera carefully, her face calm, but sad, and the two guys, who had finally calmed down, look over at her.

"There was...a man I knew who had something old like this...but it records things instead, and it had a handle." She spoke and Yukina blinks, cocking her head to the side to think of what she was talking about.

"Oh, it was probably one of those retro video cameras." She replies and Anna looks unsure, shrugging her shoulders. Yukina was then curious to know who that man was she was talking about, as well as the camera he had.

Anna then looks over at the guys, holding the camera carefully.

"...Will you two take a picture with me?" She asks, surprising them and even Yukina.

"Anna.." Yata says.

"Of course! Anything for you, Anna!" Rikio says excitedly and rushes over to her side.

"O-Oi!" Yata bursts, following after.

She then looks at Yukina and she knew immediately what she was going to ask.

"Hai, hai. I understand."

She takes the camera and peers through the lens, making sure the three of them were seen.

"One, two, three, smile~"

*Snap*

The camera revs, processing the photo and the four of the watch as a developed film pops out from the mouth of the device. Yukina takes it, fanning the photo and handing it to Anna once it reveals the image of her and her friends.

"Wow." She gasps quietly, smiling softly and Yukina feels bashful of the scene. _So adorable!_ She cries in her head.

"I wanna see!" Yata beams and she hands the photo to him. "Sugoi na...Not bad." He eyes the film and Yukina stares at him and he notices her gaze and blushes, turning away. "I-I'm not saying you're great or anything! Tch!"

"Heeh~ You seemed impressed though, kid." She teases and he tenses up angrily as if he wanted to make a comment.

"Me next!" Rikio snatches the picture and Yata was drawn aback.

"Oi, I was still looking! Rikio!...Oi!" He shouts.

 _Wow...they're actually not bad people. I didn't think HOMRA had this side to them from the rumors I heard._ Yukina thought.

"Do you mind if you and I can take one as well?" Anna suddenly asks and she was surprised.

"Eh? Us?"

She nods and Yukina smiles gently.

"Alright, come here."

Anna joins her side and she holds the Polaroid in front of them, they smile and there was a flash, once again a film shoots out and Yukina fans it until it clears up, handing it to Anna and she looks delighted. Yukina then gives a chuckle, thinking of the man Anna had told her about earlier and looks at her Polaroid, then back up at the Lolita, who also makes eye contact with her.

"Here. I'll let you borrow this...I feel like you and that man are pretty close so use it to make more memories together...with those two as well." She hands Anna the camera, who was hesitant but Yukina beckons and she finally takes it.

"Thank you, but...how will I give it back to you?" She asks and Yukina grins, whipping out a metallic light gray card embossed with a silver emblem on the left and inside of the symbol was an elegant coffee cup with steam rising from it. She takes out a pen and writes down her cell number and name on it, handing the card to Anna.

"Here, this is my personal number so call me anytime you have a question or if you want to return the camera, but you can keep it for as long as you like." Yukina gently smiles as Anna takes the card.

"Coffee...Royale publishing..." She reads. "Ito Yukina."

"Hai, that's me!~"

The two smile at each other; Yukina giggling softly and she watches Anna's smile fade and she continued looking at her, finally opening her mouth to speak.

"Are you...also a Strain?"

The question surprises her.

"No, why do you ask?"

"I saw your power when Yata tried to hit you...I don't know what color it was though." She explains while looking down as if she was trying hard to remember something and Yukina muses.

"Ii e. I'm just a regular clansmen, but if you're asking that, does it mean you are one yourself?"

Anna carefully nods her head, wondering which Clan the woman was from while Yukina stares at her, thinking how this meeting was very interesting and eventful, then suddenly, Yukina's PDA goes off with a familiar tone.

"AH! I was so caught up on all this that I totally forgot about _that_!" She cries, standing up quickly and digging her hands in her hair. "They're gonna kill me if I'm late! A-Ah..um! I'll see you later so call me if anything goes wrong! Take care of it please!" Yukina runs off, shouting at Anna as they both wave at each other. "Thank you agaaaaain! Bye bye!~~" She disappears in the crowds and Anna holds tightly onto the Polaroid, hearing Yata and Rikio approach from behind her.

"Ne, Anna...why didn't you tell that person that Totsuka-san isn't with us anymore?" Yata asks in a low voice, a foot on his skateboard as he rolls it forward and back, kicking it up and spinning it around with his palm.

Rikio was quiet as he looks at Anna, handing back the photo to her and she was quiet for a moment.

"I felt that...he was with us again with her around...that's why." She answers, turning around to look at the guys.

"Heeeh..." Yata sighs, jumping onto his skateboard and shoving his hands in his jacket. "Whatever, that chick was weird, giving googly eyes to kids and taking pictures of them."

"Let's just go back now." Rikio says and she nods, the two follow after Yata and head back to the HOMRA bar.


	8. Eighth Dance

_December 22nd_

* * *

Ohmiya Yoshio was bouncing a tennis ball against the wall and floor of the meeting room at Iris, which was on the 6th floor of the twelve story building. He is a twenty-six year old, tall and athletic man with short ruffled hair with an ombre color of black on top and gray on the tips. He has blue-grey eyes and also three black piercings on his right ear. He wore a light gray and black hooded jacket with a thin navy blue muffler tucked underneath. He wore brown cargo pants and light gray slip on sneakers to match his jacket.

Him tossing around the tennis ball was the only audible sound in the room, but he stops after a while and sighs, slumping in his seat, hearing the clock in the room ticking and then looking out the windows at the sleepless city, the sky a dark navy blue.

"She's really late." He grumbles, tossing the tennis ball in the air and catching it in his palm. His voice was deep and monotone.

Across from him was Kazuyoshi Riku, a twenty-three year old man with layered, midnight dark-blue hair that is parted to the right, usually with a lock reaching his nose, turquoise-blue eyes and black rectangular glasses, which he adjusts with his middle finger. His attire consisted of a beige sweater vest over a slate gray dress shirt and a firebrick red tie. His pants were an ash brown color and he wore light brown loafers.

"It's a bit rude to have us wait like this, especially on the night before this big event." He speaks in a professional, mature manner.

"I hope she knows that some of us have things to do after this. I don't want to be here later than 8:15." Kurihara Saeko pouts, one of Iris's security guards, who sat a couple chairs down from Riku, placing her elbow on the table and resting her cheek in her hand. She was joined by her partner, Ozaki Mamoru who was quietly playing a game on his phone.

"Maybe Yukina-chan probably got caught up on something?" Wakaba Yuu comments.

At the far end of the table was Shizuka, who was watching the entire session go down, her chin resting atop of her linked fingers and she swings her leg. Yayoi was next to her, tapping away on a holographic laptop, reviewing the agenda Yukina had sent her.

The members in the meeting room were volunteers to plan and set up for the event. They were also there to help with cleaning, but anyone was welcome to lend a hand for that.

Things calm down for a little after Shizuka makes her comment. She was looking at the frosted glass doors at the other end of the table, waiting for Yukina to arrive.

To her surprise, it wasn't long until she catches a quick shadow and the doors open.

"I'M HERE! I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE!"

Yukina bursts in, slightly alarming everyone.

Yoshio swings around in his chair, holding his tennis ball in his hand, but remained slumped in his seat as he turns to face everyone.

"Where have you been?!" Saeko asks, irritated and clenching a fist on top of the table while Yukina laughs with embarrassment.

"Sorry sorry, I was in Shizume City and I tried to get back on time but I was delayed...obviously, ahahaha." She continues laughing while placing a folder on the table.

"What were you doing in HOMRA Territory?" Yoshio asks, spinning the tennis ball on the table

"Business, duh! I found the perfect Lolita model for my new manga so I'm super excited! I bet you're proud of me now Yuu-chan, my beloved editor~" Yukina flashes a thumbs up and Yuu scratches the back of her head, feeling a little exposed and emberrassed, but everyone wasn't as excited, except for Shizuka.

"That's nice to hear you found some inspiration while you were there and staying out of trouble." She says, praising Yukina and she beams, fixating her red glasses.

"I had everything under control with my secret weapon! Don't worry! Well then enough of that. Let's get this started and I'll be quick to catch up on lost time."

"If you would please." Riku speaks, adjusting his glasses and Yukina slams her palms on the table with excitement.

"So! Today we are here to finalize everything for the party just to make sure things are good for tomorrow. Earlier this month and this week I finished sending invites and getting people to start shopping for their secret Santas, so people should've gotten a name already, while Shizuka-san finished off reminding everyone else about it before the companies and departments closed down...even though it was last minute." Yukina lowers her voice on the last sentence and when she mentioned the secret Santa game, everyone immediately thought of their person who they have bought presents for. "But! I got remarkable responses so this event is going to be great! We also know that the dress code will be semi-formal so be prepared to wear something nice even though it's cold out. So, how is the status on that penthouse at your fancy Tres Spades casino, Asahina-chan?" She asks, eyes sparkling as she looks over at her senior.

"I checked it out the other day and it's been prepped and cleaned for our use and we are more than welcome to enter the room at anytime." She explains, typing on her laptop and Shizuka glances at her from the corner of her eye, knowing she had more to say, but instead, she brings up the main lobby of the two story penthouse on a hologram, full screening it at the center of the table for everyone to look at. It was fully decorated with a Christmas theme, wreaths hung on the doors, tinsel wrapped around pillars and hanging from the staircases with red bows tied between every arch made. There was also a glamorous Christmas tree in the corner already decorated with ornaments. White and red tables were set up, possibly to put goodies and snacks on, and were positioned near the front of the room.

"Wow~ It looks pretty!" Saeko was dazzled by the penthouse, eyes sparkling with wonder ad Yukina nods her head in approval.

"Brilliant! Now, what's next..."

The meeting about the party lasted another hour. Friendly arguments about food, drink, music went around and off topic discussions added onto the time, but it was good that Yayoi had been there to set things straight, seeming to be exhausted for the day.

"And that concludes it! Meeting adjourned!~" Yukina points to the ceiling and everyone sighs with relief.

"Haa, finally." Saeko stretches her arms, grabbing her phone as she stands up and Mamoru yawns, delaying when getting up from his chair and she had to grab his arm and force him up; the two leaving the room after saying good night to everyone.

"Good night, see you guys tomorrow." Yoshio lazily heads to to the door, yawning and Riku follows after him quietly, waving a hand to everyone.

"Thank you for your hard work!" Yukina calls after them.

"Ja, we'll be going as well. It's been a long day for us." Shizuka pats Yukina on the shoulder and they look at each other.

"Right! Thank you for the hard work and I'll see you tomorrow!" She bows and they return the gesture.

"Good night everyone." Shizuka waves at Yuu, who was gathering her belongings to depart.

"Good night, Takahiro-san; Asahina-san" she calls as Shizuka and Yayoi turn to right, disappearing behind a corner and heading to the elevators.

"Hmmm, you didn't mention about the catering your aunt offered." Shizuka looks at Yayoi, who keeps her eyes forward.

"I rejected it." She finally answers and Shizuka lifts an eyebrow, curious. "I do appreciate that she allowed us to use one of her beloved penthouses, but the food, I won't allow her to cover. We already sent out a notification that members are free to bring food and drinks; however it isn't required since we have it under control, which is why we had the meeting today. That woman is too proud of herself so you can't always trust her if she thinks things will go her way, and you should know that since you've witnessed how she's like with people. How embarrassing." She finally answers and Shizuka grins.

"She has quite an interesting personality, despite how she likes to play mind games, but she is friendly...I guess. I want to say that she is still your aunt even if you two don't get along, but...blood isn't always thicker than water apparently."

They stop by the elevators, Yayoi pressing a button to call for one. "Hai. I don't want to take a gamble with her since Christmas is so close, if I do...who knows what would befall the Iridescent Clan."

Shizuka slightly narrows her eyes, pausing for a short moment. "Naruhodo..." She says in a low tone as the elevator doors open and they walk inside.

"This is a selfish request I'm asking from you, but please don't mention what I said if you end up running into her, which you would most likely will tomorrow. It's better if I do it...whenever that will be." Yayoi sighs as they are lifted to the top floor.

"If that's what you wish, then I will fulfill it." Shizuka's tone was serious but reassuring at the same time, putting Yayoi at ease.

"By the way, you haven't bought a gift for your person yet have you?" Shizuka asks.

"Yes, I have, and you?" Yayoi looks at her with a challenging look, smirking and lifting an eyebrow.

"After I brought Sumika-kun back to Iris and headed out to lunch, I took that time to look for something. I nearly forgot about it, but Yukina-san sent me a reminder, which was polite." Shizuka chuckles and the elevator stops on their floor as Yayoi pats her on the shoulder before they walk out.

Back in the meeting room, Yukina then rushes over to Yuu, sliding in the chair besides her while holding onto her camera bag.

"Ne ne, Yuu-chan. I gotta show you these pictures of my Lolita girl!" She giggles, pulling out her camera.

"Haaaai, but I can't stay for too long." Yuu edges closer to her and watches as she fidgets with her camera. Yuu glances into her camera bag, noticing that she didn't have her other camera with her like normal.

"What happened to your Polaroid?" Yuu asks, her voice was low as she questions and Yukina waves a hand, shushing her at the same time.

"Just hold on, I'll get to that." She says, pulling up the photos she took on the screen of her camera. "Mite mite! Isn't she adorable! I was so lucky at Shizume City today, as if this was meant to be!~"

Yuu leans in to look at the photos of a small, whaite-haired girl with red eyes, wearing a red Lolita styled dress posing in different ways, sometimes she would just be standing there or looking somewhere else, but all of her expressions were the same. Calm and emotionless, even when she slightly smiled.

"Kawaii ne?!" Yukina asks as the photos ended and Yuu draws back. "I wanna work with her again, so I hope she gives me a call someday soon. Hee hee."

"Well, she would fit the perfect image of a doll to be honest, ah, but she does have style for someone so young and I really like her little hat...I should buy one for Chibi-chan...yaa~ he would be so cute" Yuu giggles to herself.

"Your pet bird right? How adorable would that be!" Yukina cheers with her for a while and they finally calm down. It wasn't long until the three of them finally gathered themselves and exit the meeting room, heading their separate ways after bidding farewells.

"Now, what happened to your Polaroid?" Yuu questions and Yukina laughs, rubbing her head nervously as they enter an elevator.

"I...let someone borrow it for a while."

"What?"

"I can always buy another one, plus I had a reason to let her borrow it...I just...somehow...I felt sympathetic."

Yuu looked at her for a long moment before pressing the button to her floor, the elevator doors closing on their own slightly before she did.

"I gave it to the girl...Anna. The one in the photos." Yukina speaks but Yuu was silent. "She's a member of HOMRA and was with two other guys; one tried to attack me but it was just a misunderstanding. I don't think they're bad people, they just looking out for each other, just like our Clan." She continues. "Anyways, Anna talked about this man she knew who owned what I think is a retro video camera...I don't know what over came me, but I just let her have the camera for a bit, giving her my contact information in case she needed something...it might be that I have a soft spot for kids which is why I let her borrow it or whatever. She seemed really interested in cameras." She laughs, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"HOMRA, you say? Wow, you're a bold one, but at least you didn't start a huge fight, but even if _you_ think they're not bad, _I_ think you probably got played by that little girl, so good job." Yuu speaks but Yukina just laughs.

"That's fine, then. It's more of a reason to go back and visit."


	9. Ninth Dance

_December 23rd_

* * *

Tres Spades, Japan's first hotel and casino since the end of World War II, owned by the Asahina family for many generations, currently headed by Asahina Kokoa, Yayoi's aunt on her late father's side; a forty-six year old woman who bares a youthful look of being thirty.

It was a chilly morning when Shizuka stopped by the penthouse to drop off a few goods. She was wearing a long, hooded ash colored knit coat, the front left open so she cold easily gain access to her guns, a pale gray knit scarf and black leather gloves. She wore off white skinny jeans with velvet, gray brown high heels boots, her trademark guns latched on like always.

She carried a bag with a few drinks inside, humming her favorite song, Fly Me to the Moon. When she reached the penthouse, she immediately walked into the small kitchen, opening the fridge and finding other bottles of different flavors inside, and she takes a few out, making sure none of them were alcoholic for the younger members.

It wasn't long until she could hear footsteps at the door, glancing slightly behind her.

"Ara, I heard you were here, Shizuka-chan."

She turns to the door where she heard a voice and she sees Asahina Kokoa, accompanied by two body guards as usual.

She wore a cute decorative hat with a black lace and fishnet bow, the ends flowing down on one side, and her ash blonde hair was loosely curled, her hazel eyes look dynamic as ever with her smokey eyeshadow. She wore a long royal purple bodycon dress with an off shoulder black lace design, flowing into sleeves that reached over her wrists, and around her arms was a thick medium gray fur boa.

"Hoo~ if it isn't Asahina-san. I didn't expect a visit from you today." She grins, holding a bottle up. "Care for a drink of apple cider?"

"No thank you, I wont be here for too long." She replies as Shizuka shrugs, placing the bottle back into the fridge. "There was something I wanted to ask you, and I'm really glad that I was able to find you this morning."

"Indeed. So, what can I help you with?" Shizuka walks out from the kitchen, feeling Kokoa's bodyguards eyes following her as she leans her left shoulder against a pillar, crossing her arms.

"Please leave us." She gestures to her guards ad they bow, walking out of the room as she commanded, but Shizuka wasn't letting her guard down. "I just wanted to say how honored I am to have you host a lovely event at my Tres Spades. The penthouses are a jewel to the eye and the rich and famous are always eager to reserve them, as you know...but the King takes all." She walks towards the tall glass windows, gazing out at the morning sun and Shizuka smirks.

"Ah, but it wasn't me who personally asked for the reservation, but Yayoi."

"Even so, I favor both of you above all, and even if you weren't a King, I would still give you the penthouse." She quickly replies and Shizuka purses her lips, lifting her chin slightly up as she looks at Kokoa, who avoids making eye contact.

"Is that so?" She quietly says. _So...does she plan on interrogating me about the catering, I wonder._ She thought.

"Speaking of my niece...she turned down my offer to cater the party. How unfortunate. I have the best chefs who would have prepared the finest buffet for you and your Clan." Kokoa looks at her with a pitiful look in her eyes, which was had no effect on Shizuka and she thought _Spot on._ "Sate my curiosity, Shizuka-chan. What was her real reason if you happen to know that."

Shizuka shifts her weight away from the pillar, putting a hand on her hip. "Forgive me for saying this to you, Asahina-san, but isn't it better to ask her yourself instead of me?"

Kokoa was drawn aback with her question.

"I really do appreciate all you have done for us, especially with the decorations, but I am not a tyrant to my Clansmen so the decisions they make are their own, and I have and always will respect whatever it is...I hope you understand as someone who holds a similar position as I do." Shizuka stood her ground with a soft smile as she awaits Kokoa's answer, who hesitates for a moment before answering.

"I-I understand. Yes, I'll speak to Yayoi myself about it. Please excuse my rudeness." She bows, feeling her emotions in turmoil and she clenches her fist.

"Hai hai~ There's nothing to worry about. Now are you sure you don't want a drink or anything?" Shizuka offers but Kokoa shakes her head.

"Like I said earlier, I wasn't planning on staying for too long, which I should take my leave now and return to my duties. Have a good day." She bows and Shizuka returns the gesture.

"As for you as well." She straightens up, looking smug, and watches as Kokoa exits the room. After a few steps out of the penthouse, Kokoa's face turns grim, her guards taken aback by her sudden change of expression. They head down to the first floor, her hands were still clenched and she was aggravated. _I can't believe a child stood up to me, embarrassing me like that!_ She screamed in her head, her bodyguards follow behind her closely. _Kids these days...they're all so uppity!_

Back in the penthouse, Shizuka brings a finger to her chin, glancing to the side as she ponders. _Beating around the bush instead of getting straight to the point huh? She hasn't changed at all with the games._ She thought, chuckling. _But I wonder why she is so eager to provide for us? Perhaps for influence...or something much worse?_

While she pondered, she feels one of her phones ringing a text in her coat pocket and she reaches in to grab it, pulling out her personal phone and recognizing the tone, looking at the screen to confirm her suspicions and it reads Ijuin Naoki.

She opens the text and reads it as she walks towards the windows:

 _You won't be too busy on New Years, right? Perhaps we can get together and visit the shrine then if tomorrow is a no-go?_

She was curious of his intentions, but she replies to him in a timely manner:

 _You'll have to forgive me but I rarely spend time with my family and my breaks are reserved only for them. Catch me at another time and I'll see then._

After sending it, she holds her phone close to her lips, which slightly curled into a grin. _It seems like I'm in a bit of a predicament. How interesting._

* * *

Around noon, Yayoi was at the Metropolis airport sitting down at the luggage claim area as she awaits for the arrival of Kuriyama Ace, an Iridescent Clansmen as well as another director of operations.

She was wearing a long navy blue suit coat with a gold jeweled epaulette on her left shoulder. Her dress pants matched and she wore black high heels, the underside a gold color.

She sighs, glancing around and recalling the email Ace had sent her, explaining his arrival time to Tokyo and to not tell her highness that he was coming back.

 _Childish._ She thought, but she fulfilled his wish anyways, having told Shizuka about running errands and drove to the airport in time for his flight to land.

After waiting for another ten minutes, she catches a familiar figure walking towards her pulling a silver suitcase with him at the corner of her eye and she turns to see Ace, then she stands up with a smirk, holding a hand out.

"It's good to see you again, Kuriyama."

"And you too, Asahina." Ace grins confidently at her, shaking her hand.

Ace was the same age as Yayoi and was a tall and muscular man with striking amethyst eyes and silver gray hair. His voice was deep and mature; women are often infatuated with it. He wore a black military trench coat over a medium gray hooded jacket underneath with a black and gray stripped scarf around his neck, dark blue cargo pants and black combat boots.

He had a gentleman's personality and cared about a woman's feelings and her needs; however this makes him seem like a playboy since he is kind to everyone, which, in Yayoi's opinion, is the reason why he is still single.

"You weren't supposed to be back until New Years." Yayoi says as they walk out of the airport, heading to the car.

"We got things done early with the shoot. Now we're playing the waiting game until they release the movie in theaters. Isn't that exciting?" He asks.

"I guess." She answers, seeming uninterested and he frowns at her.

Normally, he would have offered to drive as they approach the car, but knowing Yayoi, he knew she was a strong independent woman who had her own intentions, which he respected and allowed her to take control of how they were going to go back to Iris. She unlocks the car and pops open the trunk for Ace. He puts his suitcase inside as she sits down in her seat, starting the engine and waiting for him, hearing the trunk close. He then makes his way to the passenger side, opening the door and finally stepping in.

Yayoi pulls out from the parking lot and navigates throughout the terminal until she could find her way back to the highway.

"You didn't tell Takahiro I'm coming back did you?" He asks after a long silence.

"She has no idea. She's been too busy packing to go home and preparing for the party, which I expect you'll be attending?" She replies, merging into the interstate.

"Hai hai." He yawns, shutting his eyes and leaning back in his seat. "It'll be good to see everyone again."


	10. Tenth Dance

_December 23rd_

* * *

Kuriyama Ace takes on as one of the director of operations at Iris next to Yayoi and he is also a substitute guardsman for the headquarters before being promoted, having experience and training within the Iridescent guard, thus, he is acquainted with Mamoru, Saeko and Renka, but he is close friends with Ohmiya Yoshio, having gone to the same middle and high school in the past. When he isn't working at Iris, he fulfills character roles for Glassvale Entertainment and recently returned from a five month shoot in China. He has told his close colleagues of his arrival, but asked for them to keep it from Shizuka, since he enjoyed teasing the Iridescent King and testing her abilities.

Yayoi had left Ace to fend for himself at Iris while she headed out to Tres Spades, but he was accompanied by Yoshio, joined by Saeko and Mamoru.

"Ho~ You really are back." Saeko shields her eyes from the sun as she looked up at Ace with a beaming smile.

"Welcome back." Mamoru says in a calm tone.

"You shouldn't really be out here for too long if you don't want other people seeing you, even though lot of the members are out, it's better to be safe than sorry if you want to surprise Takahiro." Yoshio comments. "Come on, I'll take you out to a bar or somewhere else as an early celebration. There won't be any alcohol at the party and there's only going to be finger food, so take advantage of this treat."

"Ho ho, my kouhai taking me out to eat, huh? This will be good." Ace snickers and Yoshio grumbles, scowling at him. "I'm just kidding."

"We'll take your stuff to your room then, but be back before the party!" Saeko grabs Ace's luggage and drags it off with her into the building, Mamoru following after gesturing a bow to him and following her inside.

"Those two haven't changed." Ace scratches the back of his head while looking at Yoshio. "And neither have you. Still looking bored as always."

"Five months isn't really a long time when you're busy working on projects. It felt like it's been about three weeks to be honest." He answers as both he and Ace begin walking towards the doors and entering the building. The two pass by the front desk and head towards a door leading to the underground parking lot and garage, which could also be accessed by the elevators. They pass by several empty lots until they come upon Yoshio's car. He unlocks it, the lights flashing on and off and he opens the driver side while Ace navigates around to the other side.

"Do you have a particular place in mind?" He asks, looking over at Yoshio once he stepped inside, seeing him seat-belting and shoving his keys into the ignition. The engine roars and Ace fiddles around with the heater.

"The Sunset Pearl." He answers, shifting the gears in reverse and pulling out of the parking space. "It's in Shizume City and Ito recommended it since she often goes to that place. I haven't been there before but the reviews are good and it looks alright. Their menu is all western food, which might be a change from eating all that Chinese food." He drove slowly towards the exit of the parking garage, stopping the car to wait for the gate to slide up. Once it sensed their approach, it opens and he accelerates forward on the smooth asphalt road out of the property.

"Shizume City huh. Well, I wasn't expecting to head into HOMRA on my first day back." Ace comments, rubbing his hands together.

"That's too damn bad, isn't it?" Yoshio declares with a blank expression, making Ace laugh and he comments.

"Smart ass."

It was a short drive from Iris to Shizume City and it was as bustling as ever. Yoshio drove carefully through the traffic and with the help of Ace, they manage to find a parking spot near Shizume Crossing where The Sunset Pearl was somewhere located. After settling, he shuts off the engine and they exit the vehicle, heading to the crossing. Ace and Yoshio head down the sidewalk and were halted by traffic lights, joining a large crowd awaiting for the light to turn green.

"It should be right over there." Yoshio points at a building diagonally across from them and Ace glances over to it while adjusting his scarf but he wasn't able to look for very long when the streetlight turns green and the mob around them begins to shift forward. The two navigate to the next light, awaiting for it to switch signals and once again surrounded by more strangers. After a few minutes, they finally make it to The Sunset Pearl.

It was a large and simple two story building with wide glass windows. Inside, there were counter tops connected to them so people could sit down and face the crossing while enjoying their meals.

They enter the restaurant and were greeted by a hostess. At first, she looks at them, dazzled with their handsome features and nearly forgets what she was supposed to be doing until reality snapped back to her quickly. Her face was flush and she avoided eye contact with the men as she leads them to an area on the first floor. She wasn't the only person who was bedazzled by the men, Ace and Yohsio could see people glancing at them, mostly women as the hostess sits them down with a nice view of the cooks in the kitchen.

"Your waiter will be with you shortly." She bows before heading off. Ace takes a moment to look around the place. It had a familiar ambiance. The floor was a cream marble color, giving the impression of clouds in the orange and pink lighting. There were paintings on the walls referencing clouds or close ups of white pearls, some having the reflection of sunsets and clouds within them, and there were white, drape covered hanging lamps coming form the ceiling, giving a nice warm glow.

"So how have things been at Glassvale?" Ace asks, his sitting posture was uniform compared to Yoshio, who was leaned back in his chair lazily.

"Che, you wouldn't believe how long your groupie of fans were crying when you left." He grumbles, but Ace wasn't falling for his tricks.

"Not to be full of myself, but although I'm polite to women, I don't remember having a group of women chasing after me...though that'd be really nice." He chuckles with a grin, leaning towards the table with a hand under his chin. Yoshio looks at him blankly while he continues laughing to himself.

A waitress finally came to their table and handed them menus while asking what they would like to drink.

"Lemonade" Both Yoshio and Ace say at the same time and she chuckles happily and writes it down.

"With a side of water for both of us, please." Ace adds.

"Alright. I'll be back with your drinks." She says with a smile, walking off and Ace and Yoshio begin browsing through the menu.

"It's been a while since I had western food...well, aside from fast food." Ace says, flipping to the next page in his menu.

"I bet." Yoshio replies. "I'm getting the Santa Fe Skillet. What about you?"

"A skillet, huh?" Ace flips back to a previous page in the menu to find the skillets. He finds the Santa Fe Skillet, which had crumbled chorizo sausages, fire-roasted bell peppers and onions, mushrooms and seasoned red-skinned potatoes served on a skillet. Topped with cheddar cheese and two eggs. He scans over the other skillets offered, but wasn't so interested. Prior to the skillet page, he was looking over the steaks and settled on the sirloin steak, choosing sauteed zucchini and squash and red-skinned potatoes as his choice of side dishes.

The waitress returned with their drinks on a tray, handing them straws before sipping the tray under her arm.

"Are you two ready to order?" She asks politely, reaching for her notepad.

"Yes, we are." Ace answers, looking up at her as he explains thoroughly to the waitress of his choice of dish. She then asks how he'd like his meat cooked and he asked for it as medium rare. Afterward, Yoshio orders with simplicity and once the waitress jots down everything she takes up their menus and excuses herself.

"She's pretty, don't you think?" Ace grins, but Yoshio gives him a doubtful look.

"Seriously?"

"What? Don't give me that." Ace glares back at him and Yoshio turns his attention elsewhere, observing the other tables and customers around them. He then glances to the kitchen and watches the cooks, catching sight of some chefs rushing back and forth, often glimpsing short sparks of flames now and then.

"Anyways, anything interesting happen lately? Come on, don't be a kill joy and tell me some stuff." Ace interrogates Yoshio in a teasing manner and he glances away from the kitchen and looks at his friend.

"Hmm...not really." He replies with an apathetic expression, disappointing Ace until he slightly raises his eyebrows, remembering something. "Oh, well I guess there's _that_ ," He declares and Ace lifts an eyebrow. "We had a teenage model who got into it with the police a few days ago. Somewhat popular among girls his age because of his looks...uh...what was his name again?" Yoshio questions himself while Ace looks at him confused.

"Huh? How did that happen? Did Takahiro do anything about it?"

"Ah, his name was Hazuki Ryu." Yoshio points his index finger in the air, seeming accomplished but his expression was as dull as ever and he tuned out Ace's questions; however, his conscious knew he was talking. "Were you saying something?"

Ace's eyebrow twitches and he scowls at him. "Yeah...how did that happen?"

"Eeh, we just got the call from both the cops and his parents, so we had to shred his contract, and they didn't give any details about his arrest, sorry to say."

"Sokka...(I see)"

"Also...there's a rumor about Scepter 4 being involved. Theoretically, there isn't any articles and such on the case so I understand why something like that would be floating around. Where the cops are, there's Scepter 4, and when they're around, the media can't get scoops."

Ace narrows his eyes and looks down at his drinks.

"Yeah, that makes sense..." He says in a low voice. "Well, he wasn't a Clansmen so it doesn't matter. If Scepter 4 _was_ involved, Takahiro-san...might not have been happy with that...you know how she is about the other Clans." As Ace speaks, he sees Yoshio glance away, his attention back to the kitchen.

"I guess..." He grumbles, catching their waitress returning with their food in a tray and he straightens up as she draws closer.

"Okay, here is the Santa Fe Skillet but be careful, it's hot." She gently places a sizzling black skillet on top of a matching plate in front of Yoshio, the food was steaming and cracking from the lingering heat. Next, she presents an ivory plate before Ace and his eyes almost seemed to sparkle as he lays his eyes n his steak, looking over his side dishes, but he finds that his zucchini and squash was missing.

"Excuse me, but I'm missing the zucchini and squash." He looks up at the waitress, her expression turning concerned.

"Okay, I'll take it back to get it fixed for you, sire." She reaches out to his plate and takes it up in her hands, but before turning away, Ace looks passed her to see a man approaching them, carrying a pan skillet with him.

"Oi, Mari!" He speaks, his voice slightly raised and she whips around to face him. Yoshio turns his head to the man and waitress, who hadn't touch his food yet as to wait until Ace was served. Both him and Ace analyze the man, who was wearing the traditional chef uniform, but the closer he approached, Ace and Yoshio notice that he looked very young, almost a teenager. He had short ruffled light blue hair with lavender ends and his eyes were royal purple and full of agitation. He was slim and tall and his expression was stern as he stopped next to the waitress.

"Hai? Takahiro-kun." She asks, looking confused and her eyes lower to the skillet, which had the zucchini and squash freshly made.

 _Takahiro?!_ Both Ace and Yoshio question to themselves, appalled.

"O-Oi...did she say..." Ace looks at Yoshio who nodded his head, his eyes glued to the young chef.

"Some idiot put that dish out when it wasn't ready to be taken since it's still missing this. It's not your fault, but you should still look over to make sure you have what was ordered so this embarrassment doesn't happen again." The young chef gestures for the waitress to return to the table. At the same time, Ace and Yoshio were a bit shocked of his biting words, but the waitress does as she is told, not bothered by his way of speaking and sets the plate down in front of Ace then steps away on standby while the chef pours the vegetables next to the steak. This gave Ace and Yoshio the chance to get a closer look at the young man, searching and questioning his features. He didn't seem to care for the two and pulled back after finishing dealing with the issue.

"I have to apologize for that. Please enjoy your meal." The chef bows to the men, his face stone cold as he rises back up and walks away, leaving Ace and Yoshio frozen.

Then, the waitress steps up, "I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't think this was the type of place for the cooks to personally come out to do that." Ace says, rubbing his chin while Yoshio picks at his food.

"It happens, but not often." The waitress comments.

"Is that so...did I hear you call him Takahiro by chance?" Ace's tone and expression was serious when he looked at her.

"Yes, I did. He's mature for his age, but he's one of the best cooks here." She says.

"For his age?" Yoshio asks and she nods.

"He's still in high school, but works here with his parents."

"What? He's a high schooler?" Ace asks and she gives a chuckle, nodding. "That's incredible. That kid must really have some talent then." He pokes at his vegetables and takes a bite, his mouth bursts with flavor and he bobs his head in approval.

"Well, some people think that because his family owns the restaurant it's how he got the position, but his culinary skills shut them up." She adds and Ace wipes his mouth with a napkin while Yoshio digs into his meal.

"It seems so. What's his name? I'd like to meet up with him sometime." Ace asks.

"Takahiro Shinobu."

The name halts Ace, but Yoshio takes a slow bite from his skillet, listening to the conversation in silence.

"Takahiro...Shinobu, huh?" Ace mutters, glancing away form the waitress. There was an awkward pause until the waitress speaks up.

"Um...is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Oh, no it's fine, thank you." He brushes her off and she bows before leaving to tend to another table. Ace then glares at Yoshio, who was taking a napkin and wiping his mouth, eventually returning the eye contact.

"What are you thinking?" He asks, seeming irritated that he couldn't enjoy his food anymore. "The name is different from what Takahiro calls her brother. They don't even look a like, let alone their personalities are way too different."

Ace chuckles, taking a knife in fingers and cutting into his steak.

"It doesn't hurt to ask, but you may be right...Takahiro-san can't cook."

* * *

Waitress, Odake Mari, made her way to the back of the kitchen to pick up an order. Once she arrived, she catches Takahiro Shinobu setting a finished dish at the pick up area and she quickens her pace to catch him.

"Ne, Takahiro-kun?" She speaks, catching him before he leaves and he stops. "I just wanted to tell you to be careful when leaving today."

"Hah?" His voice was rash but she wasn't intimidated by him.

"The man you gave the zucchini and squash to was...asking questions about you...I'm just taking precautions so be careful when you get off work. You're still a kid anyways." She declares and Shinobu gives her a devilish sneer and a snort.

"Don't worry about that. I know who the guy is and he's not a thug."

"H-Huh? You know him?" She furrows her eyebrows in confusion. "Are you a stalker?"

"Gross." He says with disgust. "Stop fooling around and get to work."

She frowns at him when he points at her, taking the dishes into her tray and walking out of the kitchen.

Shinobu returns to his duties up front, glancing over at the table where Kuriyama Ace and Ohmiya Yoshio sat, with a stern expression and then gives a smirk. He knew both of them, but this was the first time he met them in person. How? One would ask.

Because his sister is a _King_.


	11. Eleventh Dance

_December 23rd_

* * *

Ace and Yoshio return to Iris without being notice from the others after their outing. Before, Ace had texted Yayoi if Shizuka was at Headquarters and she replies: _Yes, she is getting ready right now, so be careful not to get caught._ They then discuss how things will turn out at the party and their plan commences.

Yoshio goes his separate way once inside Iris, returning to his bedroom to clean himself up and make it to Tres Spades in time, while Ace unpacks some of his belongings at his place and relaxes, taking his time until he would have to start dressing up.

It wasn't long until Bellavance Orlando shows up. He was waiting in the foyer at Iris for Yayoi, who he had asked to attend the party with him earlier that month. He was wearing a simple navy blue tuxedo with gold and silver button cuffs and chains, the jacket having coat tails, and a turquoise long tie, contrasting his usual french-like attire. His hair was left in a long, low ponytail, the tie was a navy blue ribbon with a dark gold charm in the shape of the Iridescent clan's insignia.

He felt a little nervous but excited at the same time as he adjusted his tie and glanced at his gift bag, which held both a present for Yayoi and his assigned persons'.

Meanwhile, Yayoi rushed out of her apartment after slipping on her black pumps, and heading to Shizuka's room. She was wearing a chiffon midnight blue and turquoise bodycon dress with an overlapping v-neckline and thick straps. She wore long silver earrings and there was a matching bracelet on her right wrist; her hair was let down and loose, wearing more makeup than usual for the night.

Once she enters through Shizuka's office, she hears her humming her favorite song in her room.

"Shizuka?"

"Hai~" She answers and Yayoi opens the door to her room, finding different dresses and shoes scattered across Shizuka's bed and chairs, and she furrows her eyebrows, walking to the dressing room to see her wearing a white towel around her body and she was applying makeup.

"Y-you're not dressed yet?!" Yayoi asks, concerned and feeling a little panicked inside.

"What? You can't rush art." Shizuka answers as she finishes applying mascara and looking over at her, "Wow, you look great!" She smiles, but Yayoi wasn't feeling up to be complimented by her and sighs, feeling a little worried for Ace and his plans.

"Thank you...but seriously Shizuka, you had all day you know?" Yayoi's voice was a little harsh and she sees Shizuka looking down at the counter, her expression blank.

"Yes, but there were things to take care of." She replies, looking back up at her reflection.

"Like what? I know you went to Tres Spades to drop some things off, so what else did you do?" Yayoi questions, leaning against the door frame.

"I went to see Kondo Yuriko."

Yayoi was surprised, blinking at Shizuka and recalling the mangaka who was sick with a mild flu.

"Really? I remember Ayana-san bringing her here sometime after you left to Shizume City. Is she doing alright? I haven't found the time to pay a visit to her after the day we picked her up from Rush."

"Yes, she's still recovering though but she should be fine soon according to her mother. I'm glad you contacted her. She's a kind woman."

"I think so too...yare yare (Good greif), being a mangaka really is a lot of work...poor thing." Yayoi places the palm of her hand against her cheek, feeling a little worried but reassured. "Anyways, I just wanted to check up on you before heading out, please don't be too late."

"Right." Shizuka answers, fixing her bangs and Yayoi leaves the room, taking out her PDA to inform Ace of the situation.

He was in his apartment browsing the web when he receives the message, his eyebrow twitches when he reads it. _Guess I'll have to wait a bit longer. It's like she already knows something's up so I'll have to be careful._ He thought and texts Yayoi back. _Asahina will have to message me when she shows up at the party then. Mataku._

Downstairs, Yayoi had just slipped on her jacket and walks out from the elevator, heading to the foyer, seeing Kamiya Tsukina and Suzuki Nanako exiting the building at the last moment. Sitting in a lounge chair was Orlando, who hears her approach and stands up with a charming smile and Yayoi holds back from blushing, clearing her throat when she got closer to him.

"You look wonderful." He holds his hand out to her, eyeing her dazzlingly and she presses her lips together, taking his hand in hers.

"Thank you." She replies and he grins happily.

"Saa, ikimashou... (Come now, lets go...)"

"Well, that's the last of them." Hashimoto Marina claps her hands together to rid of dust after she sets a box on the carpet floor, then placing them on her hips and scanning the living room of their new apartment at Iris Corporation, or what she could now call, Headquarters, since she is officially an Iridescent Clansman, bearing the mark as proof.

Her sister, Tomoka, walks into the room and sets down a laundry basket full of clothes and other items, straightening herself and and stretching her back.

"Yeah, I'm glad." She grunts, feeling her shoulders popping.

The twins take a look at their empty new home, which was much nicer than the apartments they were staying at before. Marina and Tomoka were told by Yayoi that the room hasn't been filled in by anyone for a long time, so everything was still new and intact. The walls are a sage color with the ceiling left white. The living room was combined with a small kitchen, both sharing the maple wood flooring. The cabinets and shelves in the kitchen are white as well and the two islands in the area had light gray granite tops with striped, light brown sides.

They didn't have a lot of furniture to bring in from their former place either. A simple coffee table, a couple desks, chairs and bean bags. Nothing bulky since they couldn't afford couches or anything fancy at the moment.

"Hmm, did we grab the box with our cups and dishes?" Marina asks, digging through other boxes and baskets.

"I think so, just look around..." Tomoka responds, bringing a box to her bedroom, but Marina still couldn't find the box, despite having everything laying around in the living room.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, alarming her and she heads to the door, glancing through the eye hole and seeing Iida Raeno.

"Who is it?" Tomoka calls from the other room.

"It's Iida-san." She answers, unlocking the door and opening it to greet Raeno, who, along with Wakaba Yuu, had helped the twins with moving in earlier that day. It was at then she noticed that he was wearing dressier clothes from the last time they meet, wearing a slate gray suit jacket over a black and white plaid-striped sweater, underneath that was a white collared dress shirt with a tucked silver tie, only showing the knot. His dress pants were a darker gray and his Oxford shoes were leather black. To finish off, his hair wasn't as messy as it usually is and well kept. She suddenly remembered about the Christmas party happening at the renowned Tres Spades Hotel and Casino.

"Hello." She speaks, nodding her head to him and he does the same. She sees that he was holding a small box in his hands.

"Hey there, Hashimoto-san. You left this on the floor of Wakaba's car and I thought you might need it." He says.

"Oh, thank you so much. I was just looking for a box with our cups in them..." She says, motioning at the box and he hands it over to her.

"There you go. Wakaba could've came by herself but she's a bit busy with the whole party going on and I wasn't really doing anything other than waiting for her to finish up...which reminds me, are you sure you two aren't going to come? It's a chance to meet other Clansmen and we can all ride in her car together." He asks but Marina just shakes her head.

"It's fine, maybe another time..um..it was a bit sudden when Takahiro-san asked when we met with her." Marina rejects his offer thinking how she and Tomoka didn't have anything nice to wear anyways and didn't want to bother digging through clothes.

"Well, I figured...then I hope you two have a safe and happy break. If you need anything you know who to call." He grins and Marina smiles back, nodding her head and he walks away, waving a hand.

Marina shuts the door and turns to the kitchen, placing the box on the counter and preparing to open it until Tomoka calls from her room.

"Hey, I found the cups and dishes. I got it mixed up with something else so it should be by the table."

"H-Huh? But then...what did Iida-san give me?" Marina asks aloud, seeing her sister walking out from her bedroom before opening the box, finding assortments of candy bars and other goods. There was a white card on top of everything and she picks it up.

"Eh? What is that?" Tomoka asks, joining Marina in the kitchen and leaning on the counter across from her. Marina then opens the card reading a message of welcoming to the Iridescent Clan, signed by several people and she assumed were other Clansmen.

"Not as many people as I thought there would be." Marina comments, handing the card over to Tomoka and she looks over it. Marina then carefully dumps out the box, spilling the candy bars and goods on the counter to review all of it.

"Kamiya Tsukina, Suzuki Nanako, Shirakura Kanae, Iida Raeno, Wakaba Yuu, Ohmiya Yoshio, Kazuyoshi Riku, Ozaki Mamoru, Kurihara Saeko, Ito Yukina..." Tomoka reads aloud the names as Marina sorts through the candy into two piles, familiar with the brands and pauses after hearing Yukina's hand.

"...Ito Yukina sounds familiar..." She says and Tomoka sets the card down, looking at her.

"She's the artist for Healing Elegance, remember? I have some of her books." Tomoka asks with a straight-face, as if she wasn't surprised her older sister had forgotten.

"What? Seriously?" Marina was surprised but Tomoka just sighs, unconvinced of her sisters reaction, knowing she wasn't really a big fan of Ito Yukina's works.

"Yeah...well anyways, it's nice that everyone sent this for us." Tomoka changes the subject and pics up a small chocolate bar and unwraps it.

"Yeah. I think so too...I think we'll get along with everyone. This will be nice." Marina gives a gentle smile, picking up a chocolate bar and looking at Tomoka, who nods in agreement silently.


	12. Twelfth Dance

I don't have an outline for this fanfiction and I don't ever make one for any of my other stories because I just write what comes to mind so some chapters do get a bit weird and I have to go back and fix a few things, so I'm really sorry to everyone who's been following. (Hey, George , author of the Song of Ice and Fire series, does it too). But yeah, for those who have been reading to this point, there are minor changes in previous chapters, and I mean, VERY minor changes, like _one name change_ or _a mentioning of an Clansman's age_ or _rephrasing of someone's dialogue_ , so I don't want you going back and rereading small details like that...unless you want to _!_ But that's up to you, man. Anyways! Here's a super long chapter for you guys. I think you'll like it because you'll get to meet some familiar people. I'll try to put out a list of names and some background of IRIS sometime, but I don't know when I want to do that...but it will happen! Thanks for the favorites and follows!~

* * *

 _December 23rd_

At Tres Spades in the Third Spade penthouse, Yukina just finished setting up a photo booth with a winter wonderland theme. She was pleased with the outcome and grabs her camera, looking around the room with excitement, spotting Riku at the refreshments by himself and she quickly trots over to him. He sees her at the corner of his eye but didn't bother to look at her.

"Say cheese!~" Yukina cheers as she snaps a photo, his expression was stern as always; however, she was content with the natural ambiance he gave off.

She was wearing contacts instead of her glasses, atop of her head was a thick headband made of peach-yellow silk and her hair is loosely curled. The majority of her sleeved and collared bodycon dress was a solid gray-purple color. The sleeves and the upper chest part is stripped with thick vertical white lines as well as the collar portion as well. The zipper on her chest matched the color of her headband, and the hem of her garment had frills that were also the same color. She wore ankle high heel boots that laced up with a dark underside and overall they were a light tan in color.

She and Riku were joined by Mamoru and Saeko who were making sure everything was secure in the room, locking bedroom doors so people don't mess around with things. Jazzy Christmas music played in the background and the main room almost sparkled with holiday cheer.

Riku was arranging the snacks and drinks on the table, checking if everything was aligned perfectly, and adjusts his glasses accordingly, glaring at her as she takes photos of the refreshments.

He wore a black and blue pinstripe suit vest over a very light gray dress shirt with a navy blue tie and a silver pin to hold it in place; his dress pants matched his dress shirt and his shoes were black. He also wore a a black watch on his left wrist as an accessory.

"This is the first time I've seen you wear a dress. I thought you would have worn something to fit your tomboy-like personality." He comments and she looks at him with a devilish grin.

"How mean~ I have my girly sides too." She answers.

"Of course." He answers calmly, pausing for a short moment while adjusting his glasses "...you look nice by the way."

His unexpected compliment made her blush but she smiles brightly, a little surprised how he said something like that too her, despite how calm he usually was. He then catches movement at the doors and he sees Yoshio entering calmly. He wore a slate blue-gray jacket over a black suit vest with silver buttons. Underneath, he wore a light cream, dark brown and black plaid collar shirt, neatly buttoned and finished with a black long tie, the end tucked under the vest. His pants were a dark ocean blue color integrated with gray in the front, held up by a dark brown belt with a silver buckle and his matching ankle leather boots were loose but the laces were tied enough to the point they wouldn't slip off easily. He gives a wave to Yukina and Riku, joining them at the food table.

"Yo." He greets the two.

"Nice of you to come." Riku says, nodding his head to him.

"Glad you made it!" Yukina smiles, stepping a little to the side and snapping pictures of him and his apathetic expression while Riku adjusts his glasses.

"Hi hi!~ We're here!" A cheery voice calls from the doors and everyone turns to see Suzuki Nanako and Kamiya Tsukina, both wearing dresses to fit the occasion and carried gifts with them as well as their coats.

Nanako was wearing contacts and had a little bit of makeup on, which was surprising since she never did. Her short hair was tightly curled and her bangs were swept left. She wore a one shoulder dress, the top part being black and the skirt was green with a black belt around her waist; black bangles were on her wrists and she wore black opaque leggings with cream pointed high heels.

Tsukina's pink hair was loose and curled, bunched over her right shoulder gracefully and she had black hairband on with white flowers decorated on the right, flowing along with her hair. She wore a loose, tan colored chiffon dress with a V neckline embroidered with black and red, and her pumps were velvet black.

"Stop! I need a picture of you two first!" Yukina hurries over to the girls and snaps pictures of them happily.

"Wow, this place is looking great!" Tsukina says, looking around. "The casino and hotel itself is amazing too! The Asahina family are banking."

"I'd still prefer Iris though. Casinos are a bit shady." Nanako comments while Yukina shrugs.

"Well, let's not think about it. Oh! More people are here. I'll talk to you two later~" She dashes off to the doors, spotting Raeno walking through the doors, followed by Shuhei, then Yuu, Kanae, Toshiro and Soma.

"Hi everyone! Welcome to the party!" Yukina greets them.

"G-Good evening, Ito-san." Kanae speaks, clutching her coat and a large gift bag with a slight blush. Her silver hair was in a bun, held up by a dark maroon frilly hair band. She also has long piece of hair let loose in the front which curled at the end. She was wearing a long black and white silk dress with diamond shaped straps. Around her arms was a light blue sheer fabric and she wore white gloves that come up the the middle of her upper arms.

Yuu was beside her, wearing a dark gold and deep red one shoulder dress, the strap was covered in roses and it had a sash hanging behind her shoulder. She wore her hair loose in curls, her necklace was golden and she had a bangle to match. Her high heels were also a dark gold color.

"Sorry I'm late. I was helping Shirakura-chan with her dress, but I'm here." Yuu approaches Yukina, who wasn't bothered by her lateness.

"Just as long as you made it is all that matters." She answers, then looks over at Raeno. "Ah! Raeno-chan, it's been a while." She extends her hand to him and they shake.

"It's has been hasn't it? I heard from Wakaba-san that you had quite an adventure in Shizume City." He grins and she laughs.

"It really was!"

"Yo! This place looks great, and the location is cool. Great job everyone." Soma approaches the group, followed by Toshiro and Shuhei. The three men were dressed handsomely and almost similarly. Suit vests over a white dress shirt, the sleeves slightly rolled up, dress pants and leather shoes; however, their vests were slightly different, as well as their ties and pants. Soma's being a navy blue colors with silver rose shaped buttons, his long tie was light gray and his dress pants were dark gray, Toshiro's vest was a shimmering silver and black color with black line designs his bow tie was a lime green color, his pants were black. Lastly, Shuhei's vest was light gray with a faded plaid texture. His long tie was black and his pants were medium gray as well.

"Hoo~ Shuhei-chan, I didn't think you would be here, how've you've been?" Yukina pats Shuhei's arm and he glances away, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Y-Yeah and I've been good. Thanks." He shyly mutters and Toshiro grabs his shoulders with a sneer.

"He had nothing better to do so we made him come for a bit, besides, it's a party. Come on." Toshiro chuckles, making Shuhei a bit more uncomfortable and Yukina grins.

"Eh~ I thought maybe he wanted to come because of a special somebody who came to his rescue a couple days ago." Yukina giggles as she teases Shuhei, his face was completely flushed and he became angry.

"Why you...don't say things like that." He growls and grabs her, putting her in a light head lock but she continues laughing, Soma and Toshiro join in on teasing with Shuhei and he becomes embarrassed, almost regretting coming to the party.

Meanwhile, Murasaki Renka and his wife, Annelotte, enter the penthouse, dazzled by the decorations. The pair originally didn't plan on showing up, but Shizuka insisted. They were matching with a royal blue color scheme, Renka wearing a full silver suit with a blue decorative long tie, his hair styled neatly, while his half French wife wore a blue shin length dress with a sweat heart neckline and short see through sleeves. Her T-strap high heels are black, the heel silver as well as the strap and finally, her light brown hair in a neat, beehive-like bun. They were followed by Midorikawa Kotaro, his black and red streaked hair was neatly styled and he wore a deep red suit with a white and red stripped tie and black leather shoes. He greeted the old married couple in a respective manner and conversed with them before Yukina rushes over to take their pictures.

Watching the handful of clansmen in the penthouse was Saeko, who was observing everyone else from afar.

"Looks like almost everyone's here...well...everyone who wanted to come anyways." Saeko thought of the Hashimoto twins, feeling a little disappointed and places her hands on her hips. She wore a fashionable navy blue military-like dress with black tights and heels. "Seems like Shizuka-san and Yayoi haven't arrived yet...Oh, the Murasaki's are here~" Saeko gasps, looking closer at the couple with excitement and rushes over to greet Renka and his wife, leaving Mamoru behind. He wore a pale blue and red plaid sweater vest over a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up; his skinny jeans are khaki and his loafer shoes are light gray and white. When he sees Saeko leaving, he decides to head over t the refreshments, joining Yoshio, without a complaint.

Approaching the penthouse was Yayoi and Orlando, her hand rested on his bent arm and he was holding her jacket for her.

Once they entered the room, they were greeted by Yukina and she teased them a little before taking a picture of the two together.

"Eh? Shizuka-chan isn't with you guys?" She asks.

"No, but she's on her way." Yayoi answers and she felt reassured.

"Well when she gets here we can start the gift exchange and all. Gosh, I'm so excited!" Yukina smiles with joy and Orlando gives a chuckle.

"The holidays are always exciting, especially when you spend it with good friends." He says and she agrees.

"Well, enjoy yourselves until then, we couldn't really do this without you, Yayoi-chan. Your aunt is very kind to let us use the place." Yukina spreads her arms out and gives a small twirl with joy. "But that's coming from someone who doesn't really know her too well. You might think differently, I don't know."

"No it's fine." Yayoi waves a hand to brush off the topic.

"How about we take a few more pictures? I see you made a photo booth." Orlando suggests and the three head on over to the snow themed drape to take more photos.

* * *

Outside of Tres Spades and pulling into the parking lot was Shizuka in her pearl car. She parks, and after a moment of adjustment she locks the doors before stepping out, grabbing a white colored, wide brimmed hat with an apricot colored bow on the band and putting it on her head. Next, she takes her black hand purse in one hand along with a medium sized gift bag .

She shut the door with her free hand and turns to Tres Spades, noticing a few snowflakes falling down when she looked up at the evening sky.

She wore a long champagne colored dress and black leather gloves. It was long sleeved with thick, white, beige and light gray fur lined around the neck and cuffs and there were two slits on the skirt, one on the front and the other on the back, exposing her legs, which she wore opaque gray tights and regular black ankle strap high heels. The longer part of her hair was loosely curled while the other part was neatly flared and styled, and she wore dangling pearl earrings to finish off her look. She didn't bring her guns with her, feeling that there wasn't a need for them.

She walks through the parking lot towards the building, following the small crowds through the rotating doors and greeted with a luxurious lobby with marble floors and golden chandeliers hanging above. She heads towards the elevators and manages to catch one that just opened, a few people walk passed her and she spots a merry couple with ivory masks before taking them off. They both were wearing formal attire and neither one looked familiar to her if they were Clansmen. She then catches a lone stranger wearing a mask and a formal suit soon afterwards, finding the experience strange, she wondered if there was another party going on somewhere else in the building and wanted to receive a mask as well. _I wonder if Yayoi knows something about that._ She thought.

Once she enters the elevator with a few other people, she takes her hat off so she wouldn't disturb anyone, pressing a button to the floor of the penthouse afterwards.

One by one, people exited and entered at different floors. Soon, she reaches her destination and she puts her hat back on and steps out, her heels click as she walks down a corridor with tall, Gothic windows. She can hear the commotion of the party around the corner, giving a soft smile when she makes the turn and sees opened doors to the penthouse.

She approaches with a bigger smile and finds everyone enjoying themselves and conversing with one another. She spots Yukina taking photos of Renka and Annelotte at the snow drape and walks over to them. The middle-aged couple look at her and give her a warm smile, ignoring Yukina's order of facing the camera and she follows their gaze to investigate what caught their attention with a pouting face until spotting Shizuka.

"Ara, I didn't mean to interrupt such a lovely scene. Do continue and ignore that I'm here." She speaks, gesturing for the shoot to go on and Yukina's eyes widen and sparkle.

"Shizuka-chan you look amazing!" She comments, snapping pictures of her, but Shizuka's gaze was locked onto the Murasaki couple.

"It's good to see you again, Annelotte-san. It isn't everyday I see the Murasaki's together, how delightful." She smiles happily, bowing and they return the gesture.

"It _has_ been a while. You've become such a beautiful young lady." Annelotte giggles, holding Shizuka's hand gently as she looks over her. "You didn't bring a date with you again this year? I thought we might see the lucky one this time but I guess we'll have to wait for another occasion."

Shizuka laughs, replying with "Maybe another time."

"You said that last year too. Ah, I hope you find someone who wouldn't mind your busy schedule and is happy enough just being with you soon. That will be my Christmas wish to you." Annelotte smiles gently, holding Shizuka's hand tighter.

"Don't forget to mention that he has to appreciate your independence and fierce personality." Renka adds with a chuckle.

"I don't think anyone will be good enough for Shizuka-chan, in my opinion. She knows how to take care of herself, but who knows, maybe someone will come around." Yukina comments, putting a hand on her hip.

"I appreciate your concern everyone. Thank you." Shizuka smiles, finding the situation a little amusing.

They continue to converse for a while, until Yukina excuses herself for a short moment to announce that everyone can start exchanging gifts, the room bustles as everyone begins the event.

"Ooooi!~ Ito-san!" Yukina hears a voice calling at her and she sees Toshiro waving for her attention and approaches her happily. "Here you go, I'm your secret Santa, so merry early Christmas." He says happily, handing over her gift. It was a small rectangular box with gold wrapping paper patterns geometrically and tied with a sating navy blue ribbon. It had a little weight to it and she was excited to open it. Carefully, she unwraps the gift, trying not to ruin the paper, revealing a white box and she open it, finding a black 80's retro phone case.

"Wow! This is amazing! I didn't know they still made things like this! Thank you so much, I love it!" She says happily and Toshiro felt a little bashful, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You're welcome." He laughs nervously and he sees Yayoi approaching him with a gift bag, Yukina then excuses herself so she could find her assigned person.

Yayoi's gift to Toshiro was an elaborate case for his gaming console, themed after his favorite video game, which he was very pleased with. After the exchange, Yayoi was then approached by Mamoru, who presented her with a basket filled with boxes of macarons, her favorite pastry. When she opened a box, she finds them in the shape of her favorite animal, ducklings, and she was very grateful as he wishes her a merry Christmas. Soon, Soma pats him on the shoulder, greeting Yayoi as she walks off and handing Mamoru a somewhat heavy gift bag.

"Merry Christmas! I think you'll really like this." He says as Mamoru glances inside the bag, then reaching in to find a 3D star theater set along with a pair of classy 3D glasses.

"Oh. I've been wanting this." He says, his eyes widen but he remained calm and Soma grins happily.

Orlando was Soma's secret Santa. His gift to him was a bright yellow scarf with the words "crime scene do not cross" on it, which thrilled Soma, who found it very witty and Orlando was glad he liked it. He was then approached by Saeko, who hands him a gourmet food and wine gift basket, which excites him, discovering that everything in it was French made, the cheese, bread, wine and chocolate.

"Oh how funny, I bought you a gift basket too, Kurihara-san. I hope that's okay." Tsukina was Saeko's secret Santa and she hands over a large basket. "I didn't know what to get you since you didn't write anything on your wish list, but I know you really like coffee, so merry Christmas!"

"I do! And this is amazing, thank you!" Saeko gasps as she eyes the different coffee flavors and mugs in the basket.

"Wow, that's incredible." Orlando comments, Yayoi joining his side and she was also fazed by the coffee, making Tsukina a little bashful as Saeko continues complimenting.

"Saeko and her love for coffee. You did good right there, Tsukina." Yuu walks up to the group, holding a rectangular box with a removable top. "And as a reward, my gift to you, merry Christmas!"

Tsukina was surprised when Yuu hands her the gift, she opens it to find two matching hair forks. Both were white and had pearls on the ends with cherry blossom jewel-like designs.

"They're beautiful!" She gasps. "I can't wait to wear them, oh my god, they'll match my kimono for new years! Thank you so much Yuu!"

"Hai hai." She replies, feeling bashful.

A few feet away was Raeno. He just received his gift from Yukina, pleased with the back stretcher she bought him since he was always hunched over a desk.

He was Yuu's secret Santa, wondering if it was possibly fate that he pulled her name out of the hat and his heart thudded when he sees her walking away from the group and he makes his way towards her, feeling like a stalker for a moment but no one was really paying attention to him.

"Wakaba-san." He speaks and she turns to him as he holds out a small cube box. "Merry Christmas." He felt even more nervous when she smiles and laughs.

"Wow, who would've thought you'd be my secret Santa. How nice." she teases and he rubs the back of his neck, glancing away as she takes his gift, opening it to reveal a decorative dark blue and golden egg-shaped music box. There were ballet figures painted on the stand and on the sides of the egg, which could be split open to reveal a shimmering nutcracker.

"Raeno...this is gorgeous!" She looks at him and then back at the gift, finding a small wind up key and turning it, releasing it after a while and it begins to play Waltz of Flowers. "Really-this is incredible! Thank you so much! I'll treasure this forever!"

"You're welcome...yeah." He says, seeing her smiling and chuckles.

Not too far from them, Riku and Kotaro exchange gifts, both being each others' secret Santa.

"Merry Christmas, Kazuyoshi-kun." Kotaro cheers, handing him a wooden box with a festive bow on it. Riku maintained a calm demeanor as he opens the box to find a 7 piece set of knives forged after swords from his favorite anime. He shuts it quickly, adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat.

"Thank you very much for this." He speaks calmly and Kotaro can tell he was very happy with it. Riku then hands him a gift bag, "Merry Christmas."

Kotaro digs in and pulls out a neatly folded blanket. It was very soft, and when he unfolds it, he laughs happily, seeing that the blanket was patterned with cute anime-like bears.

"Sugoi na. This really is a surprise coming from you...Kawaii." He chuckles, folding the blanket back up while Riku adjusts his glasses again, feeling embarrassed.

"You're a grown man you know. It was a little emberassing purchasing something like this. Mataku." Riku mutters and Kotaro laughs even more, patting him on the shoulder.

"You can't be too old for anything!" He says. "Thank you for this."

Nearby, Nanako waves over at Shuhei and he turns to her as she hands him a gift card. "Merry Christmas! I didn't know what to get for you since you didn't write anything down on your wishlist, so I'm giving you money to spend on whatever you want." She pats him on the shoulder.

"Oh, nice. Really, thank you." He says, bowing to her and she giggles, nodding her head. Shuhei then spots Kanae, his assigned person, quickly making her way towards them feeling a little overwhelmed with the crowd but seemed to have calmed after approaching the two. Nanako turns and follows his gaze as Kanae joins them.

"Ah, Suzuki-san. Merry Christmas." She hands her a large gift bag which made Nanako excited.

"Is this...oh no _you didn't_." She sneers and pulls out a large stuffed animal snow owl with big blue eyes. "YES! THIS IS AMAZING! Thank you so much, Kanae-chan!~" She hugs the stuff animal happily and Kanae smiles and softly giggles.

"Well, I guess it's my turn now." Shuhei clears his throat. "Shirakura-san. Merry Christmas." When he spoke her name, she looks at him and sees that he was holding a small gift box out to her. She covers her mouth quickly, feeling timid.

"F-For...for me?" She asks and he nods, motioning the gift to her and she finally takes it, untying the ribbon and removing the top, revealing two phone charms. One had a jeweled crescent moon with a long glimmering diamond chain and the other was similar, but it had a couple of pink roses and with a pearl chain instead.

"So pretty...thank you so much!" She says, her eyes sparkling and he covers his mouth with his hand, glancing away and feeling his cheeks flush.

Finally, Shizuka and Yoshio were the remaining members left. He was reminded of the strange encounter in Shizume City once they meet up, but chose not to bother her with something during the event. He then glances at her gift bag, wondering what she had brought him, recalling that he didn't write anything on his wish list except for, "It doesn't matter." on it. It was the same for Shizuka as well, but she had "Surprise me" instead, which made it very difficult for him as a typical man who didn't understand women.

"Heeh, so you're also my secret Santa? This is going to be interesting." His voice was lazy and his expression stern as always.

"I think so too. Merry Christmas, Ohmiya-san." Shizuka says with a confident grin as she hands him his gift and at the same time he gives a small rectangular box to her.

"Merry Christmas." He replies and peers into the gift bag, pulling out a rectangular dark blue box and slipping the bag under his arm. Next, he flips the top open and inside was a silver analog watch, a black and silver card holder and a black steel bottle opener in the shape of a cat's head. He noticed how the ears came to sharp points and the eye sockets were large enough for his fingers to slip through, which made him wonder if it was a weapon instead. Whatever the case was, he was content with it.

"A...Arigatou (Thank you)." He manages to say, looking at Shizuka.

"Douitashimashte. (You're welcome)." She smiles, watching him as he places his gift back into the bag and she unwraps hers, revealing a wooden box and she slides the top open. There was a pair of black iron chopsticks, one had a fork at the end and the other was a knife, included was a matching colored chopstick rest, which was a tiny man laying down, his torso flat for the utensils to rest on.

"Now this is very convenient. I like the little man here, it's very cute...thank you so much." She comments, seeing Yoshio placing a hand behind his neck.

"Yeah. You're welcome." He replies. "Well, I'll be going then." He waves a hand and turns away while Shizuka nods her head. She then scans through the crowd, watching everyone else showing off their gifts or discussing other matters joyfully. She then sees Yayoi approaching her. Orlando wasn't with her, but after looking around a bit more, she could see him speaking to Renka and Annelotte and draws her attention back to her friend.

"Glad to see you." Yayoi says.

"You too. So, who was your secret Santa, what did you get, and what did you give to your person?" Shizuka questions.

"Ah, it was Fujita-kun and I bought him a case for his gaming console, which had a man in a skull mask with a hood and trench coat atop some rooftops, which looked like London...I think. So mysterious." She begins and Shizuka suddenly recalls her encounter with the masked guests before arriving to the party, but she allowed her friend to finish, setting the thought aside. "And, my secret Santa was Ozaki-kun; he gave me macarons. Adorable, right?" She pulls out a box to show her the pastries. "In the beginning, I suspected Kurihara-san since she asked about my favorite things, but to my surprise, it was Ozaki-kun instead. I should have connected the two since they are good friends."

Shizuka chuckles at the thought of Yayoi getting fooled by someone other than herself

"How sweet. I wonder what Orlando thought about it...was he jealous?" She sneers and Yayoi puts the macaroon box back where it came from and she lightly smacks Shizuka on the arm.

"Stop that. Now, what about you? I hope you didn't give Ohmiya-san something he didn't like. I saw you two together earlier by the way."

"Ah, getting even with me now, aren't you? But no. I was a simple gift set with an analog watch, a card holder and a cat shaped bottle opener which, I might add, could also be used as a weapon. Handy when going to a bar don't you think?" Shizuka asks, feeling confident in herself and Yayoi notices how egoistic she was being and subtly rolls her eyes, soon agreeing with her.

"I see...well it looks like you got chopsticks from him, oh, and they're metal too."

Yayoi points at the chopsticks in Shizuka's hands, taking one and looking at it closer, but enjoyed the chopstick rest even more, just like her friend. Shizuka shuts the chopstick case afterwards and slips it back into the gift bag, remembering about the masks.

"Well, now that _that's_ aside...there's something I wanted to talk to you about, since you know Tres Spades much better than I do."

Yayoi felt concerned and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Did something happen?"

"Not exactly. I saw a few people wearing these pretty masks earlier and I was curious to know where I could get myself one. Is there another party going on in the building?" She asks with a bright smile, but Yayoi wasn't looking very sure.

"A masquerade? I don't think I recall an event like that on the calendar for this month in Kokoa's office...I must have overlooked it." She brings a finger to her chin, sorting through her memories. "I'll have to check up on that."

"Naruhodo." Shizuka sighs. "Well then let's not think about it anymore and just enjoy what's happening here and now."

Yayoi was a little surprised that Shizuka set aside the topic so quickly, but then she realized that she didn't want her feeling troubled at the party. She gives Shizuka a calm smile, soon, she catches a familiar figure approaching behind Shizuka and gives a chuckles, slightly lowering her head, a subtle nod to greet Ace, who was ready to surprise the Iridescent King, wearing the traditional Iris guard uniform and cap for the occasion. The other Clansmen in the room had already begun to notice his presence, but they were aware of the situation and kept discreet.

"Hmm, I think it's my turn to talk to you about something now." She speaks, feeling a little excitement erupting inside of her. Earlier, Yayoi caught Shizuka entering the penthouse and speaking to Renka, Annelotte and Yukina by the doors. She was quick to send Ace a text that he needed to head out from Iris, and here he is at the perfect moment.

Shizuka cocks her head to the side with curiosity and a faint smile. Yayoi then sees Ace pause, his hands shoved in the pockets of his dress pants with a grin and she holds a hand out.

"But why talk about it when I can just show you what I want?" She grins and walks closer to Shizuka, taking her shoulders in her hand and slowly turning her body.

"Hah? What are you talking about?" She questions until Yayoi finally has her facing Ace and she freezes up.

"Me. Your royal highness." He speaks with a sly grin, bowing afterwards, and she places a hand on her hip, her lips curling with amusement.

"Well well well, I wasn't expecting to see you until next month." She says as he straightens himself up.

"But here I am. Surprised, right? I told Yayoi to keep things quiet and she was willing to play along." He says and Shizuka glances at Yayoi without budging, who shrugs at her, and reverts her attention back to Ace.

"I'll have to give you guys points then. I really wasn't aware of anything...but welcome back, Kuriyama Ace."

He was pleased to hear that from Shizuka. Soon, the room began to bustle and Ace could hear his name as his fellow Clansmen had become aware of his presence. He was then approached quickly by Yukina, who begins snapping photos of him with sheer excitement. Others soon began to join, except for those who weren't too familiar with him.

While he explained the situation, playfully joking with the other Clansmen, Orlando approaches Shizuka and Yayoi.

"Oh~ Shizuka-chan, I was wondering when you were going to show up. Did you have any trouble on the way here?" He asks.

"Not at all I don't think." She answers, tipping her hat at him as he stands beside Yayoi.

"You don't mind if I borrow Yayoi for a bit?" He asks.

"Wh-What?" She questions and Shizuka grins.

"I don't mind at all." She snickers and her friend furrows her eyebrows at her in disbelief but Orlando takes her away as the two head to the balcony.

"Wow, I didn't think Kuriyama-san would be back so soon." Shizuka turns to see Soma, Shuhei and Toshiro approaching her, the trio standing nearby.

"Almost all the women are around him. Mataku." Soma clicks his tongue and rubs the back of his neck.

"It can't be helped. He's a good person you know." Toshiro comments, making eye contact with Shizuka. "Oh, Takahiro-san. Glad to see you here."

"Eh? Takahiro-san?" Soma looks over, followed by Shuhei who slightly nods his head to her and she returns the gesture.

"Why aren't you three joining the crowd?" She asks.

"I'll give my greeting to Kuriyama later. Not feeling up to it right now." Soma answers, huffing.

"Yeah, me too, only because of all those people around him...ah, but for Shuhei, he's never met Ace so he's an exception." Toshiro points a thumb to Shuhei, who was looking overwhelmed.

"R-Right." He says and Shizuka turns her attention back to Ace and the people around him.

"He's not a bad person and easy to get a long with so introducing yourself won't be so bad." She comments, reassuring Shuhei.

On the balcony, Orlando takes the chance to give Yayoi his gift to her. It was a small ornament of a rose encased in resin and glass with silver and gold framework, seeming to be Venetian inspired.

"It's beautiful, thank you so much." She breathes out and Orlando clears his throat, slightly blushing.

"I'm glad you think so." He chuckles. "Merry Christmas, Asahina Yayoi."

She could feel her cheeks turning red as she looks down, pressing her lips together and holding the ornament close to her chest.

Back inside, everyone had dispersed after greeting Ace and welcoming him back to Japan. Shizuka was still speaking to Soma, Shuhei and Toshiro, until they were approached by Mamoru, who hands them glasses of apple cider from a tray, Ace then draws near, joined by Yoshio, and he also gives the two a glass, walking off with the tray to give other members drinks.

Shizuka and Toshiro greet Ace politely but Soma was hesitant and eventually succumbs to the looks his friends gave him and gives a bow, welcoming him back to Japan and Ace thanks him. It was then Shuhei's turn and he clears his throat as Ace looks at him curiously.

"Sorry..ah...we've never met since I joined the Clan two months ago while you were away. My name is Sumika Shuhei, it's nice to meet you." He bows in front of Ace, who returns the favor.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sumika-san. I am Kuriyama Ace, one of the director of operations for Iris as well as a fill in for our security guards but I often freelance for Glassvale."

"That explains the suit then." Shuhei points out and Ace gives him a grin. "So that means you work with Ohmiya-san too?"

"Right. We're partners in crime!" He grabs the calm Yoshio who didn't seem fazed by his friend's sudden grasp.

"We'll be working with them sometimes, just a heads up." Toshiro comments and Shuhei nods his head, understanding.

Shizuka felt content seeing the men getting along. Soon, she sees Yayoi and Orlando coming their way, glasses of cider in their hands, and joining the group.

"Sate to, mina-san!" Yukina's voice booms through the room and everyone turns to her. "Again, I'd like to thank all of you for coming tonight, it really, really means a lot to me, and even though every year I host something like this, it's still so great to spend time with everyone before we go on break. We've all worked really hard to get deadlines in and all but in the end we managed to do it, good job everyone!" There was a round of applause. "So to conclude this silly speech. Merry Christmas everyone!" Yukina raises her glass and everyone follows her motion, chimes of Merry Christmas echo through the room, followed by clinking glasses, laughter and more cheers.

* * *

The night continued in a blur of socializing, friendly games, storytelling and jokes. Eventually, people were already beginning to leave, saying their farewells and good nights. Soon enough, the only members left were those who volunteered to help clean up and Orlando and Ace decided to stay behind as well, even though there wasn't really much to tend to.

"So, as long as nothing's broken, crumbs and whatever is isn't left, we can just leave the trash bags here?" Orlando questions, looking at Yayoi.

"Yes. Housekeeping will stop by later. Kokoa didn't want us messing with any supplies or equipment so we just do the dirty work and they will finish up." She answers, tying a trash bag up while Orlando sets it in the small kitchen for her. The penthouse looked just like how it did before everyone arrived, except that Yukina was still packing her camera equipment with Shizuka and Ace helping her roll up the winter themed drape as she handles the rest.

"We'll be going first." Yayoi announces.

"Hai!~ Have a good night you two!" Yukina chimes.

"We got the tables folded up and we put them back in the closet." Saeko calls from the back of the room.

"Alright, you guys can head out when everything looks good." Yukina answers, zipping up her camera bag. "Thank you for the help you two."

"No problem. Anytime." Ace grins.

"We should get going now. I still have things to pack before heading out to see my family tomorrow." Shizuka gestures to the door, holding onto the drape for Yukina as she slips her coat on. When she mentioned her family Ace was reminded of the boy at The Sunset Pearl for a short moment while the three depart after shutting the lights in the penthouse, closing the doors behind them.

They head down the corridors, reaching the elevators and Ace goes ahead and calls for one for the ladies, waiting for a short while until the doors open and they steps inside, clicking the button to the ground floor and it takes the trio down, stopping on different floors for others who were headed the same way. Shizuka holds onto her hat tightly but gently so not to ruin the brim. She carefully looks at everyone around her to pass the time, complimenting different clothing, hairstyles or eye colors. The majority of the passengers wore formal attire, which calls to her mind about the few people she saw earlier with masks.

On ground floor, the doors open and the passengers flood out in different directions while avoiding others planing on entering. Yukina sticks close to Shizuka, who was putting her hat back on, and Ace follows behind the women, his hands in the pockets of his pants.

After they passed through the rotating doors at the entrance of the building, they were surprised to see snow falling down gently.

"Wow!~ It's snowing!" Yukina cheers, looking up at the dark sky as snowflakes kiss her face. Ace almost felt as if he was babysitting a child for a moment, looking at Shizuka who seemed to be enjoying the falling snow in a more subtle fashion, holding her hand out to catch the flakes in her palm, her hat protecting her face when she looked up. They then head towards the parking lot, first stopping at Yukina's vehicle which was parked in the front row.

"I think if this continues, it'll be a yearly tradition in the Clan, don't you think?" Yukina asks as she tosses the drape in the passenger seat, slipping her camera bag over her head slowly and gently placing it on the floor behind the driver seat.

"I think it's already a tradition." Shizuka answers, smiling softly at her and watching as she steps inside her car and sitting down.

"You think so? I'm glad then...but I hope I won't always be the one hosting it...oh, but there's always the option of pulling names out of the hat." She chuckles to herself as she schemes and Ace huff, his breath sowing in the cool air.

"Just make sure the names are from members who are willing to take on the responsibility. You don't want to force people." He comments.

"Fine, but that's not as fun though." She pouts, adjusting her seat to the right setting so her feet could reach the gas pedal and turns the engine and lights on. "Alright, I'll see you guys back at Headquarters!~" She waves a hand at Shizuka and Ace, who were beginning to step away, returning the gesture and she shuts her car door. After a moment, she pulls out from the parking space slowly and departs.

Shizuka turns to Ace and he motions that they continue forth.

"I had to park in the back so I'll walk with you to your car." He grins as he offers and she gives him a smug grin.

"Well thank you. You've always been quite the gentleman, but did it get you any women while you were in China with it?" She asks teasingly as the two begin walking to the next row of vehicles. Ace follows her closely, leading him to where she had parked.

"You don't make that sound as good as it should." He replies, hearing her laugh with amusement, reminiscing of the days before he left the country and recalling how the Iridescent King liked to play with people. A sadist, he would describe her, but not so evil.

"So, I was with Yoshio in Shizume City earlier today to pass the time...guess what happened to us?" He smirks devilishly as they make it to Shizuka's car.

"Did Ohmiya-san find someone who caught his eyes? Or _you_ perhaps?" She asks but Ace shakes his head, seeing the lights on her car flicker, followed by he sound of the doors unlocking.

"No, we just went out to eat at The Sunset Pearl, and to my surprise, there was a boy working there, a chef actually...and he shared the same family name as you." He opens the door for her and she looks at him as she steps behind it, the door separating the space between the two and she was giving him a Cheshire cat-like grin, resting her arms on the car door, her knuckles underneath her chin.

Takahiro Shinobu, right?" She asks and he was stunned. "Ah, but you might be more familiar with how I call him Shin instead."

"What? So your family owns The Sunset Pearl in Shizume City?" He questions.

"Yes."

"I can hardly believe you. I've seen your cooking...no offense." He declares and Shizuka steps away from her car door, laughing and waving a hand.

"None taken...butwe can have this talk at another time, preferably somewhere warmer than out here hm? What do you think?"

"Sure, I'll just remind you about it in case you forget...since you have a knack for doing so." He replies, moving around the car door as she seats herself inside her vehicle after removing her hat, igniting the engine and it roars awake and she gives him a side glance.

"Well, how hypocritical. I guess that you've forgotten something as well...but I guess I'll remind you since it seems I can never remember a person after meeting them for the first time." She admits her flaw confidently, challenging Ace and he was obliged.

"Ah, but you're wrong on that, I know that if you keep seeing the person you'll never forget who they are. I know from experience." Ace counters, somewhat impressing Shizuka who seemed amused and quiet, but her reply was only

"Hmph...sate, I'll see you back at Iris." She says and Ace felt disheartened, confirming that he still can't read her. Pushing that aside, he nods, shutting the door for her and stepping away, slipping his hands into his pockets. Once she begins to back out, he turns away and heads to his own vehicle a little ways back, chuckling to himself.


	13. Thirteenth Dance

Shiro's back you guys! Episode 3 made me so pumped up!

* * *

 _December 24th_

 _Christmas Eve._

* * *

"So it starts after sunset? Then I'll meet you at the station and we can head there together." Himuro Daisuke was speaking to Sota Mami through his PDA that early afternoon. He was staying at Iris for the holiday break, catching people beginning to leave every time he looked out his living room window. Snow had blanketed around the corporation but with the sun out, it was hard to enjoy the scene without being blinded by the bright white.

"O-Okay! We can meet up at 4:00 and get there early...is that alright? I heard there's going to be lots of activities and food stands here that will keep us busy until the actual event starts." Mami asks timidly.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll see you until then." He answers.

"Mn! (Yeah!)" She giggles and they hang up. The two had planned to see the Christmas illuminations in mid town Shizume City later. He was somewhat anxious but excited at the same time because he would be giving her his gift; the glass pegasus figurine he bought from that odd person, Orlando; since she would be spending Christmas day with her family. _Orlando definitely fulfills the idea of how a typical Iridescent Clansman would be._ He thought as he heads to his kitchen, opening the fridge and reaching for a can of soda, but only disappointed when there wasn't any left. He also notices that he was running low on groceries and blames working to hard that he wasn't paying attention to the necessities.

"I guess it's off to the store for me then." He mutters, shutting the fridge while scratching his head and sighing. He grabs his coat, making sure his wallet was in the pockets and snatches the keys from a small end table, opening its small drawer to grab a pair of wool gloves and afterwards walking over to the entrance of his apartment, slipping his shoes on and opening the door. He locks it once it closes and makes his way to the main lobby on his floor, taking the stairs down, his keys and footsteps echo throughout the stairway. He reaches ground floor, pushing open the stairway door and entering the foyer, greeted by the front desk and the people behind it.

"Hi hi, Daisuke-kun!" Saeko cheers, leaning over the counter and waving at him.

"Hey." He returns the gesture, approaching her and noticing that Mamoru wasn't around. "Where's Ozaki-san?"

"Gone. Like everyone else...well, the majority of us." She answers, sitting back in her swivel chair and leaning her elbows on the desk top, her hands under her chin as she looks up at him. She wasn't wearing her uniform, instead she was wearing a gray, red and white Christmas sweater and black pajama pants with gray slippers. She was five years older than Daisuke and he met her and Mamoru a couple days before being initiated into the Clan. Overall, he thought she was a friendly person and they got along pretty well.

"Oh, I see, but what about you? Aren't you going home?" He asks.

"I am. I'm just waiting for Kanae-chan since her parents live in the same area as mine. Neat isn't it?" She grins, but Daisuke wasn't too familiar with the name and she notices his hesitation. "Ah that's right. You're a newbie still so you still don't know everyone, but that'll change. Iris isn't like your previous Clan, Jungle with all that anonymity."

"Um...yeah. It'll be a while until I meet everyone I guess...ha, I joined at a pretty crazy time huh?" Daisuke felt anxious at the mention of Jungle, the Clan he was formerly affiliated with.

"Nah. I think that award goes to the Hashimoto twins, and I'll even throw in the fact that Shizuka-san might have a hard time remembering them after the break since they didn't show up at the party last night." Saeko glances away as she makes assumptions.

"Ah that's right, the twins. I remember seeing them the other day when they were moving in and they really look alike. If they had the same hairstyles I'm sure they could easily fool everyone...as for Takahiro's case, I think her brain will fry trying to figure out who is who." Daisuke adds, recalling how Shizuka had forgotten who he was and sympathized with the twins.

"I was thinking the same too, but imagine how interesting things will be from now on." Saeko laughs and Daisuke felt a little concerned, thinking that she might be some sort of sadist, but he takes into thought of how nice it was to talk to someone, more importantly a fellow Clansman who he can actually trust. Jungle lacked that, but in comparison to Iris, they both allowed anyone to join, but for the Green Clan, one would have to be an elite member to actually meet with the King. In any case, he wasn't a part of them anymore and pushed the thought away for the time being.

"You're so weird." He finally comments and Saeko looks at him with a sly grin.

"Aren't we all in some way? Heh, this is almost like a scene out of Alice in Wonderland. You being Alice and I the Cheshire Cat telling you how we're all mad here." Saeko declares and Daisuke thought it was a dumb but funny reference and he laughs.

"Well, I'm probably keeping you from doing whatever you were doing before, but it was a good talk." She says.

"Not at all, but yeah. I was just gonna go shopping because I ran out of soda, and to pass the time until I head to Shizume City to see my girlfriend." He answers.

"How nice~ I hope you two have a good time then." She smiles and he takes a step back.

"Yeah I hope so too. I'll see you later." He waves a hand and walks off towards the doors; Saeko also waving back and he opens them, feeling a slight breeze envelope his body but it soon goes away and he walks out of Iris grounds, following the sidewalk and heading to the main street in search of an available cab to take him to the store he usually went to.

As he walked, he went over his and Saeko's conversation. _Jungle...huh._ He thought, looking at the ground with his hands in his pockets, recalling how he logged into the site, thinking it was some sort of gaming network and discovering about other Clans and powers aside from the one he was familiar with, that being HOMRA, who were largely known somewhat as ruffians in Shizume City, where he initially lived before Iris Headquarters. Soon he participated in missions to earn 'points'. In the beginning they were harmless, simple objectives, until they lead to robbing and other petty crimes, so he stopped. He wasn't the kind of person to hurt anyone or damaging property and wasn't looking to seek power, or even caring to meet with the Green King like the other members wanted, he wanted to play the 'game', but not like that.

"Oi, watch yourself."

He suddenly sees an arm shoot past him from behind and hook around his neck, pulling him backwards and stopping him from running into a pole.

"Huh?" He grunts, steadying himself and the person releases their grip. He turns around to come face to face with Kazuyoshi Riku, who adjusts his glasses, which were tinted from exposure to the sun, and he gives him a stern look.

"What were you doing? This isn't the place to be spacing out like that." He asks Daisuke who rubs his neck and clears his throat.

"S-Sorry. I was thinking about something, but thanks for the save." He answers, nodding his head to Riku, who remained silent.

"Oh, Himuro. I haven't seen you in a while so I almost didn't recognize you from behind." He says calmly, fixing the muffler around his neck and Daisuke chuckles, feeling as if this has happened before.

"Y-Yeah, I've been busy...um, I thought everyone went home to their families, so what are you up to?" He asks.

"My parents don't live too far from Iris and my mother asked me to grab some things in town. And you?" Riku replies.

"I'm grocery shopping"

"And...what about going home?"

"I'd rather just stay at Iris."

Riku didn't question Daisuke any further on the subject, feeling that it was inappropriate to do so.

"I see...in any case, we're heading in the same direction so I think it would be best if we split the fare from a cab, what do you think?" He asks and Daisuke nods, the two heading down the road together. They talked about what hey had planned for the break, Riku explaining how his older sister and brother-in-law had shown up at the house and how his mother invited their relatives to come by since she has a party set up.

Of course, Daisuke didn't have anything planned, but he liked being by himself so he didn't find anything wrong with that and neither did Riku.

After a while, they began seeing more people walking about and it wasn't long until they finally reach the main street, the sidewalks nearly crowded with strangers rushing into stores, purchasing last minute gifts and other goods.

"How troublesome." Riku mutters under his breath as he looked around while Daisuke catches a cab for them, waving a hand until one pulls up to the curb and they climb inside. They are then taken to the market district, which was much more crowded than their previous destination. The cab slowly pulls into a drop off area and the two pay their share of the fee and exit the vehicle.

"Alright, I have to go this way. It was nice catching up with you, Kazuyoshi." Daisuke points in a direction while looking at Riku at the same time.

"Yeah. I'll see you around. Have a good break.." He responds and Daisuke turns away, at the same time Riku does too.

* * *

In Shizume City, Kushina Anna, accompanied by Kamamoto Rikio, have been strolling along the riverwalk. He looks out at the shimmering blue ocean, his back turned to Anna as she snaps pictures of some snow glistening in the sun on the bushes around them, retrieving the developed film from the cartridge and giving a smile. Rikio turns his attention back to her to make sure she was okay and he catches sight of her enjoyment with the Polaroid camera.

 _It's good to see that she's having fun with that_. He thought, resting his hands in the pockets of his coat for warmth. _With Mikoto-san gone now...I guess this is something to take her mind off of it...and everything else happening with the Clan._

He recalled the day when Anna was given the camera by a girl name Ito Yukina, claiming to be a mangaka and photographer who worked at Coffee Royale. He thought she was weird for popping out of nowhere and getting friendly with Anna, but from what he saw that day, she didn't mean any harm and just wanted to take pictures.

Even so, Yata Misaki wasn't convinced and Rikio was pulled along with him to investigate Coffee Royale to see what kind of place it was, and it turned out to be a normal two story building with the name of the company and the logo at its doors, matching the business card Yukina gave to Anna. Its size was in comparison to the HOMRA bar but nothing as fancy as the two thought. Much to their discouragement, it was also closed for the holidays so no one was around to give them insight and the traveling turned out to be a waste of time.

Though Rikio suggested they just contact Yukina herself, Misaki wasn't up to the challenge and dropped the case, but he was still suspicious, even accusing the Polaroid to be a bomb or rigged with bugs but when they let their older Clansman, Kusunagi Izumo, look at it he simply stated it was just a camera.

Since then, they allowed Anna to keep it, but if she was going to go meet with Yukina at any time, she must have someone with her.

There was the sound of music playing in the distance and Anna and Rikio follow the noise, coming upon a man playing an electric violin. He wore sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sunlight, or perhaps to maintain a mysterious identity in Rikio's opinion. His hair was a creamy blonde color and ruffled, his outfit seemed like a prestigious school uniform with a mix of a tuxedo, all being black with white designs to highlight pockets and the silver buttons down his front and around his sleeve cuffs. There was a small machine with a petal connected to the violin and a set of speakers to amplify his playing. There were other people surrounding him, watching as he played a familiar tune and Anna sees the man place the bow in his mouth, stepping on the pedal of the machine at the same time and tapping on the top of the strings of the violin which gave out a bass-like sound. He then steps off the pedal and the beat he created repeats through the speakers and the people around were amazed.

They continued watching the performer with joy. Anna snaps a picture of him with the camera slightly tilted for added visual interest and the film develops immediately. The violinist finishes his song and the crowd applause him, some people step up to give tips, throwing cash and coin into the case he set out prior to his performance, there were even some people requesting some songs, seeming as if they were his fans.

"That was cool! I'm glad we were able to see something like that, heh, wish I could do something like that." Rikio comments as Anna attempts to take another photo of the man, but nothing happens. He notices the stall and Anna looks up at him looking worried.

"D-Did I break it?"

"Eh? I don't think so, let me see." He asks, taking the Polaroid when she hands it to him and inspecting it even though he had no idea how it worked. Anna takes a moment to think, remembering that she had taken a lot of pictures and wondered if it was out of film. It was then that Rikio manages to open the Polaroid after pushing a button, seeing that there wasn't anymore of the white film inside. "Aah, there isn't anymore of those things, Anna. Sorry...but we can go buy some when we head back, how about it?" He squats down to match her height when he asked, handing the Polaroid back to her with a warm smile and she slowly nods her head.

"Anna-chan? Is that you?"

A voice grabs their attention and they turn to the sound, seeing a familiar face approaching them. That being Ito Yukina. Rikio then stands up as he sees her drawing closer, utterly shocked of her sudden appearance.

"Yukina?" Anna was also surprised but at he same time she was also happy to see her again.

"Aha! I was right! I saw your red dress and wondered if it was you." Yukina beams, running up to the HOMRA Clansmen. "Wow, talk about coincidental. I didn't think I'd run into you again so soon to be honest...maybe this is really is the power of Christmas."

"I didn't think so either, but it's good to see you." Anna gives a smile to the content Yukina, who then turns her attention to Rikio.

"Ah, we didn't properly introduce ourselves last time. Sorry, I was in a rush that day, but I'm Ito Yukina. It's nice to meet you." She gives a bow to him, who was a little surprised but he kept his guard up.

"Oh, Y-Yeah. I'm Kamamoto Rikio, It's nice to meet you too." He replies and she was content with the pleasantries. She then looks around the area, wondering where the skateboard guy was at, who she knew as Yata, but he wasn't anywhere nearby.

"That skater guy isn't with you today?" She asks, looking at both Anna and Rikio.

"Yata? No, he's...doing something." He answers, keeping to himself on Misaki's whereabouts.

"I see. Well it _is_ Christmas Eve so I understand." Yukina says, pushing her glasses up.

"What are you doing here?" Anna asks.

"I'm just taking in my last bit of freedom before heading to my old man's place and going out to the country to my grandparents." Yukina answers, hanging her head and her arms going limp. "I'll be trapped out there with possibly no signal."

"But, you're a mangaka right? Isn't that hard work? I think a break would be good for you." Rikio adds and Yukina nods her head, sniffing as if she was crying and pulls herself back together.

"Soja! (Right!) I have my next series to work on still so I could probably get some storyboard made...ah, that reminds me, I have to go shopping too..." Yukina mumbles to herself while Rikio frowns at her and Anna laughs. It was then that Yukina takes a breather and then looks down at her. "Enough of that, So how's the camera been? I bet you've taken a ton of pictures huh?"

"Yes, I did and it's been really fun, but...I ran out of those things...film...right?" She asks, handing the camera to Yukina and she opens up the film door, finding the slot empty.

"You're right. Wow, you took a lot then...if I remember I think I filled this up to the max...I don't know actually, forget what I said."

"Oh, okay." Anna says, feeling unsure on what to believe.

"Well you're lucky we ran into each other. I tend to horde as much Polaroid film as I can since they're hard to come by. You can't get them at any regular store nowadays." She kneels down, setting her bag on the stone floor and unzipping it.

"You can't? Well that's saves us the trouble then." Rikio comments, watching as Yukina pulls out a pack of blank films, muttering about it being a ten pack and pulling another and she finally registers Rikio's statement.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I only know two small stores in Shizume City that sell the ones that fit this model." She laughs, waving the packs of film. "I'm gonna let you have these, alright?"

"Wh-What? Is that really okay?" She asks, her eyes widen and even Rikio was surprised.

"Yeah you just finished explaining how hard it is to buy them." He adds.

"What? It's Christmas Eve, you know? Don't worry about." She gives them a thumbs up. "Here, I'll teach you how to load them in. It's really easy."

She begins demonstrating how to refill the film into the Polaroid for Anna, Rikio also watches with curiosity, thinking that he should watch just in case Anna couldn't do it herself if the time comes. It was a very short explanation when Yukina loaded up the films, handing the camera back to Anna who was very pleased.

"Thank you." She says smiling warmly and Yukina giggles.

"Hee hee, you're welcome. Now you can take pictures again."

Anna nods her head with a feeling of satisfaction and a soft breeze brushes past them. Yukina gives a shiver against it.

"Brr! It's not good to be out too long in this weather. Anna-chan aren't you cold? Even though it's sunny it doesn't mean you still can't get sick." She says, rubbing her hands together and breathing on them but Anna shakes her head.

"No, it doesn't bother Rikio and me."

"Heeh~ Sokka, must be that red Aura, huh?" Yukina asks tilting her head to the side as she questions and Anna nods her head.

"Well, we still have to wear a little bit of warm clothes." Rikio adds, scratching his head and Yukina laughs.

"Right right. We're still human after all." She jokes, looking at him as she stands, then stretching. "Ja, I should get going or my old man's gonna worry too much. He can be a real pain in the ass when he gets like that." Yukina makes a sour face thinking about her tiger dad lecturing her.

"O-Oh." Anna was disappointed with Yukina having to leave so soon.

"Don't feel down, Anna. We'll see her again, besides you still have her card right?" Rikio reassures her and then she nods her head, which makes Yukina a little surprised but also content.

"Yeah, if you ever need anything you can just call me. I'm more than happy to hang out with you and Rikio more, but I don't know about Yata. Hmph. I think he's a bit rude." Yukina growls, thinking back when he almost ran her over with his skateboard.

"Misaki is a good person though, so I don't think he meant it." Anna says and Rikio face twists in horror when she said Yata's first name, but he was too late in trying to cover it up from Yukina hearing it who already has a smile of interest.

"Misaki huh?" She purrs. "Oh, I will remember that the next time we meet." She snickers, rubbing her hands together as if she was a villain.

"A-Ah, is there any way for you to forgive him?" Rikio asks, attempting to persuade her in not using the name but she wasn't backing down for the moment.

"Hmm...who knows." She laughs, waving a hand and Rikio drops his head in defeat. "I'll see you guys later. I have to get going so bye bye!~" She runs off quickly, catching Anna waving at her before turning her back to the HOMRA members and joining the busy sidewalks of the city.

"Ja, let's get going too, Anna." Rikio finally gathers himself up, halted for a moment as he catches sight of snowflakes glistening as they fall down, and was about to walk off until he notices that Anna was looking at something ahead of her. He follows her gaze to see the guy with the violin from earlier standing a few feet from them and looking in the direction Yukina had run off to. He had a hard case strapped over his right shoulder, which Rikio assumed held his instrument, and behind him was someone putting the speaker into a larger casing as well as the small machine with the pedal.

"What's his problem?" Rikio asks, lifting an eyebrow and reaching out to Anna so they could leave but the man looks over at the two which causes Rikio to pause.

"Was that Ito Yukina?" He asks, his tone sounding lazy and monotone, which surprises the red Clansmen, feeling that his performance and the taste of music he played was a complete contrast to it.

"Er...why do you need to know that?" Rikio asks, pulling Anna behind him in case a fight was to break out, but the guy lets out a sigh, taking out a gray handkerchief and pulling his sunglasses off, revealing his amethyst colored eyes and he cleans the glasses seeing that there were droplets on the lens from the snowflakes.

"I'm just a fellow colleague, that's all." He replies and Rikio feels wary and confused, but before he could ask what he meant, a voice interrupts them.

"Oi~ Mamoru, what are you doing? I have everything packed so lets get out of this weather and get something to eat. I'm hungry!" The person who was packing his equipment waved his arms, calling out and grabbing the violin guy's attention and he slips his sunglasses back on, turning away without saying anything.

"Wh...What just happened?" Rikio asks, feeling out of place for some strange reason and Anna grabs the hem of his white hoodie to bring him back to reality.

"Iko." She says, pulling him with her.

"Eh? Ah! Okay okay!" Rikio says, nearly tripping over his own feet as he follows Anna.


	14. Fourteenth Dance

_December 24_ _th_

 _Christmas Eve._

* * *

The evening day had become partially cloudy but the persistent sun continued to peek out as it slowly crawled across the sky like a spider in its web. The short moment of snowfall had halted, disappointing those anticipating for it to follow through until Christmas day, those including Hashimoto Marina and Tomoka.

They were shopping for ingredients in Shizume City for dinner at their uncles tomorrow, but even so, the twins dreaded meeting with him.

"Stop sulking. We're already in the city so there's no turning back." Tomoka frowned as she looked at Marina, who gives her a pouty look.

"We can just shop for things for ourselves instead" She mutters, glancing away and covering her nose and mouth with her scarf. "It's not like he's waiting for us or anything anyways."

"Don't say things like that, he's our uncle. You know we have to go see him every once in a while." Tomoka retorts, but she understood and felt the same way as Marina with that uncomfortable, anxious feeling residing within both of them; however, the sisters knew that they owed him for taking care of them in the absence of their parents, whoever they were.

"I don't care, let's just go. I'm cold." Marina brushes off her feelings and pulls Tomoka behind her. They didn't find any trouble maneuvering through the crowds of people around them as they made their way to their destination.

"Even after all these years, we still don't even know what kind of food he likes to eat." Marina grumbles and crosses her arms as she glances into other stores as they walk passed them.

"I thought we agreed that he wasn't a picky eater." Tomoka says, pulling out her phone to check the time, keeping her sister within her peripheral so she wouldn't get lost.

"Erk...I guess..." Marina responds with doubt and stops at the edge of the crosswalk, the light just turning red and she looks around, unaware that Tomoka was still on her phone and hadn't looked up since she reading an article covering details on people going missing in the city. At the same moment, Marina looks at the other side of the street on her left, her back turned to her sister, observing the different people around her and she catches sight of a woman with shimmering blue hair hinted with soft purple within. Periwinkle she would describe. Not too blue or too purple. She was familiar with one other person with that hair color. The Iridescent King, Takahiro Shizuka, the 6th King.

 _Eeh, but that doesn't mean it's her. They can be anybody since I can't really see their face._ She thought and then remembered that Shizuka had a strange hair style that stood out more among anyone else, with the left half of it jagged and short and the other layered, long and silky. It made her doubt herself again since she thought of it. It felt like months since they last saw her, but really, it was only a few days ago when they were accepted into the Iridescent.

"Ne? Doesn't that woman over there remind you of Takahiro-san? She has the same pretty blue hair like her." Marina asks Tomoka, turning to her right to look at her sister only to find her still looking at her phone and taking a step onto the busy street, an incoming car quickly approaching. Her heart and throat tightens with fear but she manages to shout with everything she had to call her out. "TOMOKA!"

She jumps at Marina's voice, her phone nearly dropping from her hands and snapping back to reality, but everything was in slow motion and Tomoka sluggishly turned her face opposite from the approaching car to look at Marina, who was reaching a hand out to grab her. _Please, please let me make it in time!_ She screams in her head. Her body was moving slower than reality and her heart pumps slow and hard through her ears, until an arm rushes passed her at a speed almost like a flash from a camera, and grabbing hold of her sister, snatching her off the street and pulling her to the side away from the people piling up by the crosswalk but they all witnessed the scene and were just as shocked as she was from what happened.

"Eh?! Did you guys see that?" Someone behind Marina asks.

"I don't know if it was just me but I swear that guy moved super fast, like lightning. Don't you think?"

"Yeah! God, that was crazy!"

"Should we call an ambulance? She might be hurt."

More mutters erupt around her but she paid no mind to them as she stares at the stranger who saved her sister, a man with black hair streaked with red, his eyes were crystal rose pink color that glowed even though he faced away from the sun and he looked about in his mid-possibly late twenties, maybe even younger.

Tomoka opens her eyes, seeming to have black out in the short moment that everything had happened and feels an arm around her shoulders. Her back is pressed against something warm and she catches a nice scent of cologne.

"Whoa, that was close." A man's voice speaks with a relieved tone and Tomoka was released from his grip. She sees Marina rushing towards her and embraces her tightly.

"Tomoka you idiot! Don't look at your phone when you're walking! You could've gotten hit!" She clenches her teeth to hold back her tears while Tomoka was frozen in place, comprehending what happened and then patting her sisters back.

"I'm...I'm sorry." She replies calmly, but she was confused and jittery, feeling the people at the crosswalk staring at her and she avoided the looks, a little eased that they off to the side instead. "What happened though?"

Marina pulls away from her and sniffs, looking over her other half and feeling relieved that she wasn't injured.

"You just walked out in the street and a car almost hit you! If...if it wasn't..." She couldn't finish her answer and looked passed Tomoka at the man behind her, pressing her lips together and holding back her tears again. "If it wasn't for this man." Tomoka then remembers being pulled backwards by someone strong, but everything was so fast that she can only recall that moment. She then follows Marina's gaze, finding a tall man standing behind her and her sister bowing to him.

"Arigatou! Hontou ni arigatou gouzaimashita!" Marina says with a voice slightly raised and the man was drawn aback, "Thank you so much for saving my sister!" She continues.

"I-Ii e, kinishinaide." He says after a short pause, seeing that the girls were identical twins and then laughs nervously while waving a hand, smiling gently at the same time. "I'm glad I got to you in time. You're not hurt anywhere are you?" Tomoka sees him looking at her with concern and they make eye contact. She feels her heart thudding fast from surprise and she examines her arms and legs, then patting her head and around her face.

"U-Uh, Y-Yeah...I think so." She says quickly.

"Yaa~ That's a relief." He laughs again and Tomoka feels her face turning red as she glances up to him, immediately drawn to his rose pink eyes.

 _Wow...they're really pretty._ She thought, her heart thudding faster against her chest.

"Is there anything we can do to repay you? We caused you so much trouble." Marina asks but the man was just as generous.

"No no, it's fine, there's no need for that, all that matters is your sister's safety." He says and Marina wanted to cry.

"I won't accept that! You probably pushed through a lot of people just to get to her in time!" She argues with a raised voice, drawing more attention to them as people pass by.

"M-Marina!" Tomoka grabs her sister's arm to calm her down, feeling overwhelmed with embarrassment and the man looks at the two, seeming a little surprised and then gives them a smile again.

"I appreciate the thought, but I was just a little bit behind you two so I didn't push through anyone, really." He explains but the twins were still amazed "...also you'll have to forgive me. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but, did I hear you mention someone name Takahiro? A woman with pretty blueish purple hair?" He looks a Marina and her eyes widen with surprise but Tomoka was lost with their conversation.

"H-How do you...I don't...what?" Marina stutters, unable to find words and conflicted between confusion, fear and doubt, until he laughs.

"Perhaps this was meant to happen because we're from the same Clan?" He takes off the glove on his right hand, holding it out in the sun with the palm faced down and on the backside of his hand was the Iridescent insignia shimmering in the light, almost like a gemstone. The sight of the marking made Marina reach up to her upper left arm with her right hand and Tomoka mirrors her, both feeling a strange sensation from their own transparent tattoos.

"My name is Midorikawa Kotaro. I am also a clansman under Takahiro Shizuka. The Iridescent King." He says, slipping his hand back into his glove, "And you two are..?"

"E-Er, I'm Hashimoto Marina and this is my sister Tomoka." Marina makes the introductions like usual.

"I-It's nice to meet you." Tomoka says softly, feeling even more nervous knowing that the man who saved her is also a fellow clansmen.

Kotaro was drawn aback hearing their names, realizing who they were.

"Oh, so you two are the twins I heard about." He comments and the girls pause as he confirms the rumors he heard. _I was pretty confused when I first looked at them._ He thought, recalling how he stalled in answering Marina when he got a look at the sisters. _Seriously...the only difference is their hairstyles...I can imagine how easy it would be to fool people if they switched identities for a day. No one would suspect a thing_. He continued thinking and then clears his throat. "I thought I would have met you two at the party last night but you didn't show up. Such a shame. Most of our fellow clansmen were there so you would've felt more at home getting to know everyone."

"Ahaha, Iida Raeno-san said the same thing to us too. It was all so sudden for us when we joined and we just moved in too so we just felt like a little crammed with things... Sorry." Marina explains but Kotaro waves a hand.

"You don't need to apologize!" Kotaro says quickly, "It doesn't hurt to take things slow since there isn't a lot of us not to mention that Iris isn't really much so I hope you two found everything alright moving in and all." He says but the girls had to disagree.

"No way, it's more than what we've had before." Marina says.

"Mn, and so far, everyone is really nice..." Tomoka adds.

"That's good to know. We try to look out for each other since Takahiro-san is always busy...which reminds me, you might not see her as much as you think you would. Things get really busy after the break, but as long as you have her contact information it should be fine." He explains.

"Right...but I still kind of feel a little intimidated texting or asking Takahiro-san for things...she is a person of power. Don't you think?" Tomoka looks at Marina.

"Eh? But she seemed so laid back when we met with her."

"Ah, that's right...but still..."

Kotaro laughs, finding the young girls rather amusing while they debated about Shizuka but at the same time, he felt pity. _Well, I guess they'll have to learn for themselves of Shizuka's condition. I guess it's gonna be something every Clansmen will have to go through with now so might as well make it some sort of secondary initiation into the Clan._ He thought, remembering his experience of the King forgetting who he was and chuckling to himself secretly, then playing out a scenario in his head, noticing that the girls weren't paying him any attention anyways.

"Ah! The light is green!" Marina points towards the crosswalk and then grabs Tomoka's hand. "Come on we should hurry."

"Eh? Y-Yeah, but..." Tomoka pauses and looks over at Kotaro who was also looking at her from hearing them talking about the light being green and her heart pounds. "U-Um, thank you again for what you did Midorikawa-san. R-Really. I'll make it up to you! I won't forget this!" Tomoka could feel her cheeks flushing as she looks at Kotaro, her eyes were bright and serious like her words. _If he's also an Iridescent...that means I will see him again._ She thought.

Kotaro sensed something else in her words and felt a little uneasy; however he goes ahead and smiles so she wouldn't feel like she was hanging, but before he could say anything, she gives another quick bow and runs off, Marina already ahead of her and he was left alone, stunned with their sudden departure.

He felt accomplished and his bod was still rushing with adrenaline of what happened, knowing that he had saved someone's life-someone from his Clan, but he couldn't help to maintain an open mind of what would come in the future. _Ja...I hope this doesn't become some shoujo manga._ He sadly thought. It soon didn't matter anymore when he realized the situation he was in at that exact moment and his jaw drops when he sees the cross light turn red after the girls had crossed over, going in the same direction as him.

"GAAH! I MISSED THE GREEN LIGHT!"


	15. Fifteenth Dance

_December 24th_

 _Christmas Eve._

* * *

The evening grew colder and the lavender and orange sky was brushed with streaks of thin clouds, giving the setting sun more opportunities to shine brightly down at Shizume Crossing where Takahiro Shizuka strolled through, pulling a wheeled suitcase behind her while occupied on the phone for the moment, glancing into the windows of clothing stores and taking her time to reach her destination since it wasn't too far. The silver anchor shaped phone charm brushed against her gloved hand as she walked, often hitting the back of her ear with an ice cold touch that lingered for a while.

"De? When will I get my car back?"

The voice of Umetaro Zel, executive director and president of Rush Studios, was grim as he asked his question.

"It's the eve of Christmas and you're worrying about it now? My my, Umetaro-san, just take this time to spend it with your family, relax and recuperate for the next year when things become busy again." She replies, pausing at a cross light but it turns green immediately.

"The company vehicles are benefits to my employees as well as your Clansmen who are also under my care when you cannot tend to them, thus, it is important that it returns when things get busy again next year." Zel replies in a harsher tone, paraphrasing her words and using them against her but Shizuka wasn't intimidated.

"It'll turn up... _eventually_." She says.

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then just leave it be."

"Takahiro-san, I ask that you drop your careless attitude and take into account of the consequences of your actions, seeing that it is rather unprofessional. If the vehicle isn't returned to me in tact by the end of this week, you will take care of providing Rush Studios with a replacement..." While Zel spoke, Shizuka crosses the street when the light turns green and she has a grin formed on her lips.

"Hoo~" She purrs, which was the only thing she says until Zel speaks again.

"I mean it, Takahiro-"

"You'll get your vehicle, but isn't one's health far more important? Really, take it easy this break. I'll see you when it's over." She remarks, pulling her phone away from her ear and hovering her thumb over the End button.

"What? Takahairo-san that is no-" **beep**

She looks forward and continues on without putting her cell away and keeping it in her hand still. _That day...it turns out as expected._ Those _people really did show up after I made a ruckus on the interstate, and now its under their hands, but to have the Blues investigate what happened instead of the local police...they really don't have anything better to do huh?_ She has a slight grin on her lips and stopped walking. _Seems like we have something in common after all._

She looks up at the building next to her, having already reached her destination and reading the cursive words above its doors as she slips her silver cased phone into her coat pocket.

 _The Sunset Pearl._

She takes a moment to reminisce the good and bad times of her family's restaurant and home. She sees a sign near the closed doors which read of the dates they were going to be closed; early that day at four, tomorrow for Christmas and finally New Years eve. She wraps her fingers around the door handle, pushing her thumb down on the latch to open the doors, but they weren't locked, which didn't surprise her, since she was being expected. She enters the building and shuts the doors behind her, turning the lock and hearing it click.

The entrance was inspired by the night of a full moon, the carpet dark blue, the walls dabbed in different shades of blue and gray. Finally, the opened, arched doorway into the restaurant itself was painted white, just like the full moon. Off to the side of the door was a white oak podium with the words, "Please wait to be seated" etched in black on its front, which Shizuka and heads straight inside, the night entrance transitions into a large room with warmer colors of peach, pink, white and lavender, and the floors are marble white with hints of orange to give off the feel of clouds.

The restaurant was empty of customers, but the smell of panned fried vegetables and cooked beef lingered in the air. Her heels click loudly once she steps off the carpet and onto the marble. She sets her luggage to the side as she grabs a chair and drags it towards the front of the kitchen, settling down at the counter where people could watch the chefs cooking

First, she pulls out her trademark glass prism from her pocket, flicking it in the air and then setting it down on the counter and it makes a _clack_ noise. She then takes a seat and crosses her legs, leaning her elbows on the top while linking her fingers together and closing her eyes, imagining the restaurant bustling with customers, the waiters and waitresses scurrying around with trays either full of dishes or drinks, maybe even empty. Flames burst from pans on the stoves as chefs toss vegetables around, others are decorating the dishes with sauces, spices or other ingredients. They then disappear and she finds herself in her apartment at Iris with the same marble white floors and the warm pomegranate glow and she opens her eyes once it projects in her mind.

"That place isn't the same as here is what you're thinking, huh?" A familiar voice speaks. "Even though it's replicated to look like home."

Shizuka chuckles, opening her eyes but keeping her gaze down and smirking.

"Hmph, that's right, Otouto (little brother)." She replies hearing the sound of a plate sliding on the counter and it appears in front of her. There was grilled medallions of beef tenderloins with shallot and red wine reduction, thyme, lemon and veal glacé, potato gratin, and finished with porcini and crimini mushrooms. A fine glass of wine was placed beside her plate as well as a neatly napkin with silver wear within it.

"Hoo~ Filet Mignon a la Bordelaise...now this is a very nice welcome home present." She picks up the glass of wine, swirling the liquid around and looking up with her usual grin at her brother, Takahiro Shinobu, who glared down at her with his arms folded over his chest, his usual stern expression on his face.

"Sou. (right)" He replies and she gives a smile to him, feeling happy. "But the main reason why I made it was so you don't mess around in the kitchen later and set something on fire...na? A-ne-ki?" His tone was full of mockery and he gives her an evil grin, eyes filled with ridicule and she felt as if an arrow had stabbed her heart, but she maintains a composed front, challenging him with a sneer of her own.

"Fu fu fu, hidoi." She laughs through gritted teeth.

"Tch. Hurry and eat before it gets cold, taku." He growls, pulling a stool up and sitting down in front of her. He was slightly turned away with his right arm resting on the counter. Before tapping away on his PDA he notices his sister's glass prism on the table top, glowering at its presence. _Tch, still obsessing over shiny stuff. Is she a crow or something?_ While he returned to his device, Shizuka takes a bite of the beef, a burst of intense flavor fills her mouth and she feels warm with satisfaction.

It's been several months since they last saw each other. Both busy with their own lives with Shizuka running Iris and her Clan, and Shinobu tending to his studies as well as the helping with the restaurant.

"I've applied for Le Cordon Bleu..." He speaks and Shizuka looks at him, pausing in the middle of taking another fork-full of beef and mushrooms and she sets it down.

"That prestigious cooking school?" She replies sipping her wine and wiping her lips with a napkin, then glancing back at him as he sets his PDA down.

"Yeah..."

"Eeh~ It'll be hard to get into to..."

"You think I don't know that? It's the best school in the region and the only way to challenge myself further with cooking." He grips his hand into a fist while Shizuka empties her wine glass.

"Go for it then. As long as you keep up your grades, study enough and pass the entrance exam then you're gold." She gestures the empty glass at him and he reaches under the counter, pulling out a bottle of wine, unscrewing it and pouring her another glass.

"So cliché." He mutters, clicking his tongue and Shizuka frowns at him

"What else do you want me to say? It'll all be cliché anyways, like, 'do your best my dear little brother', or 'I know you'll get into that school' ne? _Ne?_ " She asks with emphasis towards the end, setting her wine down and picking up her fork to resume eating, waiting for her brother's answer, noticing he doesn't reply at first as he looks at his PDA, then he opens his mouth to speak

"Gross. Forget about it then." He huffs seeming disgusted with the kindness from his sister, but Shizuka wasn't fooled by his tsundere personality, knowing he was just hiding his gratitude for her support.

 _It's good he has plans after high school. Le Cordon Bleu, huh...the best French and Japanese school in the Kanto region._ She glances at his PDA for a short moment while she chews, the screen bright white but she could see him scrolling down an endless page of just words, and she though he was probably reading an e-book. _Ah that's right...there's_ _ **that**_ _to talk to him about too._ She then sis back while swallowing and lifting her chin, shifting her narrowed eyes to the back of his head.

"Shinobu." Her voice was low and his thumb pauses on the screen, hearing her call him by his actual name meant she had something serious to talk about, but he didn't budge. "I got a call from someone through my personal cell a few days ago...you didn't happen to give my number to anyone did you?"

Her question piqued his interest since he was aware who she was talking about and turns to look at her.

"Ah, so Ijuin-sensei really was serious in trying to get in contact with you." He grins evilly while Shizuka looked at him sternly, hiding her shock.

"Sensei?" She questions.

"Heh? He didn't tell you when he called? God, you adults are weird." He grumbles, brushing a hand through his hair and sighing. "Your ex teaches English at my school and I have him third period."

"What happened to the previous teacher?" She asks.

"He's at Ashinaka High School now."

Shizuka was quiet while Shinobu continued his explanation.

"Ijuin just started teaching this year and he's really strict on everyone, especially to us third-years. Talk about high expectations, so, I think he's tough on us because he knows I'm your little brother so congrats, you managed to ruin the last year of my high school life, baka Aneki." Shinobu claps his hands and stands up. "Encore encore." He adds, his tone sounded bored as well as his expression and Shizuka bows her head while extending her arms out to the sides as if she was on stage in front of a crowd.

"Oh, you're welcome, and thank you very much." She teases her brother back and he scowls at her when she reverts back to her usual sitting position "But don't assume things like that. It's unhealthy."

A 'hmph' was his only response, sitting back down and crossing his arms, and Shizuka continues eating. "Na, Aneki, did you two meet up yet?" He asks after a pause.

"Not yet. He did call me about meeting on New Years, but I'm spending that with you, mom and dad." She sighs, "I'm trying to get a date in though." She scoops the remnants of her meal into a small pile and shovels them onto her fork for a final bite.

 _As expected, she's never bothered with confronting people...even with those who broke her trust._ Shinobu thought. S _he's gonna want to get it over with as soon as possible and get some questions answered. Even I have some suspicions on what that guy's up to, but it's between them so it's not really my problem really; however, he didn't seem to change from what I remember him being like_

"Which reminds me, why _did_ you give him my number? You had the choice of refusing." She jabs her fork towards him but he doesn't flinch and blinks once before answering.

"He said he had some things he wanted to talk to you about, so that's why I gave it to him."

"Heeh? I have three phones you know? You could have given him the business one."

"Pff, he doesn't know about that, besides I think you can handle whatever he throws at you. You weren't the one who ran away anyways." He stands up, taking the empty plate with him and heading to the sink to wash it.

Shizuka doesn't comment and finishes off her wine, then linking her fingers together, setting her hands on top of the counter, and narrowing her eyes as she contemplated on something. After Shinobu rinsed off the plate and sets it out to dry, he heads over to the refrigerator and pulls out a jug of water, grabbing a cup from underneath an island and returning to his seat with Shizuka, pouring water into her once glass of wine and then pouring himself some.

"Mah mah..." She sighs, bringing the rim to her lips, "It's gonna be another long year."

"Tell me about it." Shinobu adds as he takes a drink of his water.


End file.
